Crimson Symphony
by Kiyase
Summary: Cecelia Briceño is the daughter of two Sector Security officers. She's also a vessel for part of the Crimson Dragon, meaning she is not a Signer, but she still has a role to play as events unfold. Join her as she discovers more about the Crimson Dragon and helps save the world along with Yusei and co.
1. The Sector Security Life in Satellite!

A small girl was running around an apartment with her parents watching her. She had long curly brown hair, and half of it was tied up with a white bow. She was wearing a white shirt and a black skirt with black flats.

Her parents were wearing Sector Security uniforms. They were getting ready to leave for the Satellite for a few days. It was in their job description, after all. The little girl was running around because her parents were going to let her go with them.

"Cecelia," said her mother, "You have to practice for a bit. Come on."

The little girl nodded, and walked over to the piano. She played for a while, and then got up. Her parents had recently given her the silver flute that she had begged them for, and she couldn't wait to keep playing it. Even though she had only been playing for a few days, she could already make a beautiful sound come out of it. Cecelia practiced piano out in one of the main rooms, and flute in her room.

There was a knock on the doorframe. Cecelia stopped playing and looked up. Her parents were there.

"Hey Cecelia," said her father, "It's time to go. To the Satellite."

"Are you ready, my little musician?" asked her mother. Cecelia nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, I'm ready!"

She ran out of the room, but not before forgetting her bag, her flute, and most importantly, her deck. Yes, Cecelia was a duelist as well. Even though she was just a little kid, she wanted to be a duelist, just like her parents. Especially a turbo duelist. Whenever her parents had free time, they would help her learn how to duel. However, she didn't want to duel exactly like her parents. She wanted to develop her own style.

They got to Satellite by helicopter, courtesy of Sector Security. Neo Domino's police force liked to station some of the members in Satellite for a few weeks at a time. Usually, Cecelia had to stay at home, but this time her parents decided that it would be a good idea for her to go with them and see what it was like. They secretly hoped that she would someday become part of Sector Security as well.

Once they got to the Satellite and got settled, Cecelia's parents had to get straight to work, patrolling the streets and making sure that all of the Satellites were behaving. Cecelia held her silver flute in her right hand, and had her deck in a holder connected to her hip.

"Mommy, Daddy! Can I go with you?"

"Cecelia..."

"Please!" pleaded their daughter, "Just this once! I won't bother you while you're working for the rest of the time that we're here!"

Her mother sighed, while her father grinned.

"Why not?" he said, looking at his wife, "It's just one time, right?"

After a few moments, Cecelia's mom groaned in defeat.

"Yeah, alright. Fine. Just this once though, okay _bebé_?"

"Okay!" shouted Cecelia happily. Her parents mounted their duel runners, and Cecelia got on with her dad. Her parents then took off in different directions. Cecelia looked around at the surroundings as her father drove by.

The Satellite looked very depressing. There was lots of rubble everywhere, from fallen buildings and things like that. Some people, could be seen, but they did their best to stay out of sight. Cecelia looked back at her father. She was sitting on his lap, while he was going at a slower speed than usual.

"Why do the people here look like that, Daddy?" she asked. Her father nervously smiled. Cecelia was such an innocent child. What should he say to a person who knows nothing about this kind of thing. He could try just telling her how it really is, but she probably wouldn't understand.

"Some people here are dangerous," he finally said, "Criminals. And they don't like the good guys like me."

Cecelia slowly nodded. She didn't really understand, but she would one day. Cecelia's father looked around, and started going a little faster. He sped around the Satellite, leaving Cecelia speechless. She loved the wind in her face, and everything just zoomed by.

Cecelia's mother appeared on the screen.

"Jamie!" she said, "I need backup! There are some Satellites running away!"

Cecelia's father nodded.

"I'll be right there!"

The screen turned off, and Jamie turned to look at his daughter.

"You're gonna get to see your mom and dad in action!"

Cecelia nodded and smiled. She was really excited to see them doing their job and fight for justice.

Jamie arrived to where his wife was. It was an old parking garage that had mostly collapsed. There was a Sector Security truck there's as well, ready to take the criminals back to the Facility. Cecelia's mother was standing in front of two Satellites with criminal marks on their faces. In their hands they held different decks they had stolen. Jamie ran to his wife, giving their daughter a piggy back ride on the way there.

"I'm here!" he said. He leaned in closer to his wife.

"You want to take them on as a team, Faye?" he asked. She shook her head and smirked.

"I think we can intimidate them enough as is," she said. Faye looked back to the two Satellites.

"Unless you two want to go back to the Hive, I suggest you surrender now, and return what you have stolen."

"Fat chance!" yelled the one on the right. He had black hair and had a triangle mark under his eye on the left. Cecelia looked at her parents in worry. What were they going to do now?

Faye sighed. Why did they have to be so difficult? They just shouldn't have stolen in the first place, and then they wouldn't be in this mess.

The other Satellite looked at his buddy. This one had dark green hair and two lines going down, starting at his eyes.

"Come on man," he said, "Let's just surrender. I told you this wasn't a good idea."

"No way!" responded the black haired one, "I refuse to go back! You can't make me! I-"

He was cut off by being punched in the arm by the green haired Satellite. The green haired Satellite grabbed his buddy's arm, and they both walked to where Cecelia's parents were.

"Sorry about that," said the green haired Satellite, "We'll go back now."

Cecelia's parents nodded, and they walked into the truck to get transferred back into the Facility. Faye looked at Jamie.

"Go ahead and take them back," said Faye, "I want to take Cecelia around."

Jamie shook his head.

"You're the one that started this situation. I got here late, so you take them back. You know they're going to want to know what happened."

After a few moments of hesitation, Faye nodded and mounted her duel runner. She sped off with the truck, leaving Jamie and Cecelia the only ones left. Jamie looked at his daughter.

"Let's go check out this place I found the last time I was here," he said. He then mounted his Sector Security duel runner and sped off with Cecelia.

* * *

 **Alright, so this was the first chapter! For now, I'm still not too sure about pairings, but I think it's going to be OCxYusei. I was thinking of doing OCxJack instead, but I just ship JackxCarly too much! I can't break it up! Hopefully you guys are alright with that.**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this, and I'll see you next time. Don't forget to R &R!**


	2. Three Strange Boys

**Hey guys! I didn't do it last chapter, so here's the disclaimer! I don't own _Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's_ in any way, shape, or form. Just my OCs and Cecelia's cards!**

* * *

Jamie rode his duel runner through the Satellite until they reached an area where there was a small clearing. There was a house and some children were running outside. Jamie looked down at his daughter.

"What do you think about that?" he said, "There's a bunch of kids there, living happily. See pumpkin? Not everyone who lives in Satellite look like the people you saw earlier."

"They look so happy!" exclaimed his daughter. Jamie looked up at the scene, noticing how a majority of the children were holding cards in their hands. Those were Duel Monster cards! Jamie didn't know how they got them, but he wouldn't do anything. Sector Security officers weren't supposed to be around that area anyway.

Jamie looked down again, and Cecelia had gotten off! How did he not notice that? He looked forward, and he saw his daughter walking towards all the other children. She was holding her flute close to her chest. She had forgotten to bring the case with her, so she couldn't put it away or anything.

As Cecelia walked closer, she heard kids dueling each other, or showing off their cards. Three kids that stood out were a blond, a boy with orange hair, and a boy with black hair and some golden highlights. His hair kind of looked like a crab. Well, one that was upside down.

The crab boy looked at Cecelia, and she stopped in her steps. She tried to find somewhere to hide, but it was already too late. She was in the clearing, and the trees were at least eight feet away.

The boy started walking towards Cecelia, and his two friends just stared. They were yelling at him, asking him where he was going.

"Hey!" yelled the blond, "Yusei!"

The crab boy, now identified as Yusei, walked closer to Cecelia. The girl held her flute closer to her. Why did she go out into the open like that? She should have just stayed with her dad. Now her father wasn't there. He was stuck behind the bushes. But why didn't he come out of hiding?

Cecelia looked back quickly, and then toward Yusei again. He finally stopped walking, and was now in front of her.

"Hi," he said, "What's your name?"

"I'm Cecelia."

"What? No last name?"

By this time, the other two boys had made their way over to Yusei and Cecelia. Cecelia looked at the boy who had just spoken. He had blond hair and violet eyes. She looked at him nervously. He looked like he was hard to get along with, or rather, that was her first impression of him.

"I have a last name," said Cecelia, "It's Briceño. My name is Cecelia Briceño."

Yusei smiled and introduced the other two boys. Their names were Jack and Crow. Jack was the boy with blond hair, and Crow was the boy with orange hair.

Yusei noticed that Cecelia kept looking behind her.

"Is there something wrong?" he asked, "Why do you keep looking back there?"

Cecelia tensed.

"No reason!" she blurted out, "Um, I don't know why I keep looking back there."

The three boys looked at each other. There was something this girl was not telling them. They looked at her clothes and how she acted. There was no way she could be from Satellite. Her clothes were too nice, and she had a really shiny instrument. Simple things like food were hard to come by, and everything else around was just trash. So how could a girl like this have found a shiny instrument that looked brand new.

"Where's your home?" asked Yusei. Cecelia hesitated before answering.

"Um, I'm from Neo Domino City," she said timidly. The three boys looked at her in shock.

"The city?" exclaimed Crow, "Then how are you here?"

Cecelia just kept pressing the keys on her flute. She didn't really know how to respond to that. Normally, Satellites hated Sector Security, so how would these boys react to her telling them that her parents were officers. Would they turn? They seemed pretty nice. She decided on telling them the truth, without telling them the complete story.

"Well um, my parents go back and forth as part of their job," she said, choosing her words carefully, "And this time, they decided to bring me with them. So that's how I'm here."

The boys looked at each other. Yusei and Crow understood Cecelia's tone of voice, and how she didn't want to go any further, but Jack didn't seem to get the memo.

"What do you mean?" he asked. His tone of voice was rough and a little too loud, so Cecelia immediately flinched.

Crow looked at Jack angrily.

"Jack don't do that! You're scaring her!"

"Whatever."

Crow smirked and said in a sing-song voice, "I'm gonna go tell Martha."

At that, Jack glared at Crow.

"Oh no you don't!"

"Just try to catch me!"

"Why you!"

Yusei and Cecelia looked at the two boys as they ran around. After a while, it looked like both of them had tired out. Jack managed to catch Crow, and they were both out of breath.

Yusei turned to look at Cecelia.

"We can all go inside and see Martha!" he said. Jack and Crow nodded, but Cecelia was hesitant, her father was there after all. She couldn't just pretend that everything was okay and follow them inside. The boys were nice, but she didn't trust going into that house with them.

Jamie looked at his daughter. It was time to bring her back. Although it was nice to see her interacting with other children like that, Faye was going to get worried if they didn't get back soon. He got off of his duel runner and emerged from the bushes. He walked toward his daughter and the three boys.

Yusei, Jack, and Crow stepped back a bit. They had heard things about Sector Security officers. Things that weren't good. All Sector Security officers wanted to do was just send Satellites to the Facility. Or, that's what they had heard anyway.

Cecelia looked up at her father, and then back at the three boys. She wanted to try and duel them, or show them her cards, but she didn't want to keep her father waiting. Everyone there just looked uncomfortable. Like they were waiting for something bad to happen.

"Cecelia," said Jamie, "We don't want to keep your mother waiting, right? Let's go."

Cecelia nodded, and held her father's hand as he led her away. She looked back at the three boys and waved goodbye. She really wanted to see them again, but she had said that she wouldn't bother her parents anymore, so it looked like that was the last time she was going to see the three boys again.

* * *

 **And there we go! Cecelia finally met Yusei, Jack, and Crow. I really hope I did their characters right. Please let me know if I did something wrong. Constructive criticism is always welcome!**

 **I've decided a day to update this story! *shoots confetti canon* It'll be on Sundays. I haven't decided on a time, but look forward to updates most likely every Sunday. Unless I** **have an overload of work. If that happens, I'll update as soon as I can.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and don't forget to R &R!**


	3. What If's

**Hey guys! Again, the disclaimer is that I don't own any of this, except my wonderful OCs and Cecelia's deck! Enjoy!**

* * *

Cecelia and her father rode back to where her parents were staying. Sector Security officers were able to stay in an area closer to the city, where the electricity still worked, and the buildings were a little better quality.

Jamie slowed down, and brought his duel runner to a stop. He got off, and Cecelia walked close to him as they walked inside.

Faye was waiting for them inside. She had somewhat of an annoyed expression.

"Where were you two?" she asked, "You took such a long time to get back!"

Jamie held his hands up in defense.

"Don't worry Faye!" he told his wife, "We were just doing some sightseeing. No big deal."

Jamie and Faye then looked down at their daughter. They didn't want her to hear this argument.

"Cecelia, why don't you go to your room?" asked her mother. Cecelia slowly nodded, and walked off to find her room in the House they were going to stay in.

Faye then turned to look at her husband.

"What if some revengeful Satellites saw that as an opportunity to attack?" she said.

"That wouldn't happen."

"It could. And what if you got attacked and they tried to take Cecelia for ransom or something?"

Jamie waved his hand.

"Don't worry," he said with a carefree tone, "They would have to be really bold to do that. Most Satellites in this area aren't."

"But—"

"No buts. Come on. We have to make sure that we're unpacked and everything."

Faye nodded and followed Jamie into their own room.

Ceceilia peeked out from behind the wall. Were the people in Satellite really that cruel? But those boys she met earlier weren't like that. They were really nice to her. Well, until her father showed up. Then there was that pause that felt like a standoff. She wanted to talk to those boys again, but she didn't want to sneak out. That wouldn't be good. She shivered, thinking about how mad her mom would be.

She decided that for now, she could just stay in her room. She wanted to look over her cards anyway. She could even practice some more flute.

Cecelia nodded. Yes, that's what she would do for now. Until she could find a way back there. She remembered the way, but she was a little hesitant to try and make her way over there all on her own.

* * *

Faye looked at Jamie angrily.

"I still don't see why you had to take so long to get back," she said. Jamie sighed.

"I told you, I just wanted Cecelia to see all the other kids."

"Uh huh."

Jamie looked away from Faye.

"That, and she kind of got off my duel runner all on her own and walked over to where those kids were playing," said Jamie. He freaked out after seeing Faye's expression.

"You let her walk over there on her own?!" she asked, almost shouting.

"But she would have been in good hands!" said Jamie quickly and defensively, "I saw how the caretaker acted with those kids the last time I saw them. She's kind and Cecelia would have been safe. She's one of those Satellites that doesn't hold grudges against Sector Security!"

"How do you know that?"

"I just...do? I mean, she looked trustworthy; all the kids would run up to her the few times she went outside."

Faye didn't look angry anymore, and she seemed to understand. Jamie let out a small sigh of relief. He hated it when his wife was angry with him; she could be scary.

The two officers looked around their room, and decided that everything was fine. They took their helmets off, revealing Jamie's blond hair, and Faye's dark brown hair. Cecelia had ended up having something in between their two hair colors. It was brown, but not too dark. In natural light, some of her hair kind of flashed a very light brown for a few moments.

Faye took her yellow scarf off, and Jamie undid his yellow bandana. They looked at each other, and decided to go check on Cecelia.

* * *

Cecelia looked down at her cards. The one on top was Symphony Djun, the first card she ever got. It was a small Winter White Dwarf hamster, with ears that were shaped like music notes. It was all white, just like the species looks during the winter. It was at its namesake's best form.

"Is that one still your favorite?"

Cecelia looked up and sat her father sitting next to her. He didn't have his helmet on, and the yellow bandana that he always wore as part of his uniform was gone. Cecelia nodded.

"Yeah," she said, "It's so cute too!"

"That one has a pretty good effect," said Faye, "For being your weakest monster."

Cecelia looked up at her parents with a sparkle in her eyes.

"Can you guys show me more about dueling?" she asked, "We have free time, right?"

Faye and Jamie nodded. They were proud of their daughter. They really wanted her to become Sector Security when she was older. But they didn't know what was going to happen. Cecelia wanting to learn how to duel was good enough for now.

For a few hours, Jamie and Faye took turns in showing different strategies to Cecelia. Most of them were really general — they wanted her to find her own style and go-to strategy. They showed her different trap and spell cards, and how they could counter each other, and how they could relate to her monsters.

"Oh yeah!" said Faye, "Cecelia, we're going to have to leave for a while, so we probably won't be here when you wake up. Don't get into any trouble."

"Mooom," said Cecelia, "You know I wouldn't do that."

"I know," responded Faye, "But I have to make sure you know. Just in case."

"Alright music princess," said Jamie, "Time to go to bed."

He picked up Cecelia, and tucked her in bed after she had gotten ready. Both of her parents told her good night, and closed the door behind them.

Cecelia smiled as she laid in bed, and looked out to the window. It worked out for her that her parents weren't going to be there.

All she had to do now was find a way back to Jack, Yusei, and Crow.

* * *

 **Alrighty! I hope you guys liked this chapter! I might write a duel soon, so there's always that to look forward to, but I don't know if I should do it when they're kids, or later on. I think I might do the latter.**

 **I'll see you in the next chapter, and don't forget to R &R!**


	4. Uh Oh

The next day, Cecelia's parents left to do their patrols, leaving Cecelia alone in their little temporary home. They said they would only be gone a few hours before they came back, so Cecelia had some time to herself. Maybe she could go to see those three boys? She still remembered the way her father took to get there, but she didn't know how long it would take to get there on foot. She could still try.

Cecelia picked up her flute case and nodded to herself. She was definitely going to see them again. She wanted to know more about them.

She walked out of the house and looked down at her deck.

 _If you can, please guide me there. I don't want anything bad to happen, just like Mommy and Daddy were talking about._

Cecelia nodded to herself, and put her deck away. She put the strap of her case on so it would be diagonally across her body, and the case itself was at her hip, opposite to her deck. She then started walking in the direction she remembered her father driving in.

Cecelia was nervous. She had never tried to do something like this before. She usually did what her parents told her to do. Doing something like this just once wouldn't hurt. Right?

Getting to the house where she had met Jack, Yusei, and Crow was surprisingly shorter than she thought it would be. It most likely took an hour, but she was afraid it would be much more than that. The Satellite is a big place after all.

Cecelia looked through the bushes. There were a lot of kids playing outside again. Cecelia put her hands on the shoulder strap and squeezed; she was nervous and needed something to hold on to. She didn't know how they would act around her now that they knew her parents were Sector Security. Would they be mean, or would they be nice to her just like the day before?

The small eight-year-old walked out of the bushes, and over to where the three boys were. She immediately recognized Yusei because of his crab hair.

As she was walking, she noticed that the other kids became quiet, and just stared at her while she was walking. She could hear the whispers amongst them.

"That's the daughter of that Sector Security Officer, right?"

"Why's she back here?"

"Why would she want to come back?"

Cecelia kept her tears in check. She did not like crying almost all the time like she did, but she couldn't control her tears too often. Cecelia was just a little intimidated by other people.

Jack, Crow, and Yusei looked at her in shock. Jack soon got ver his shock, and looked like he was really angry.

"What are you doing back here?" he asked, "Don't you have somewhere else to be with your fancy parents from Neo Domino City?"

Cecelia flinched and felt like she was about to cry, but she was able to act strong and stop herself from crying. She looked at Jack angrily.

"I'm sorry I wanted to come over here and see you guys again," she said almost shouting, "I'm sorry I'm from the city and you can't get over that fact! And my parents aren't fancy — they're Sector Security, if you couldn't tell that from yesterday! They're heroes, not fancy!"

She crossed her arms and looked away. She was struggling to stop herself from crying. She gave up and let some of the tears fall.

 _How pathetic,_ she thought to herself, _I'm eight and still crying._

"I guess I shouldn't have come," she muttered. She then sighed and put her hands on her hips and said, "Too bad I'll get in trouble anyway."

"What do you mean you'll get in trouble anyway?" asked Yusei, "Cecelia?"

The girl whipped around to look at them.

"I mean that I didn't get permission to come here," said Cecelia, "I walked here, all the way from where I'm staying."

Crow looked impressed. The seven-year-old was impressed by a lot of things at this point in his life.

"And you're from the city right? You weren't scared getting here all by yourself?"

Cecelia shook her head.

"No," she said, "I was okay on my own."

"Wow," said Crow. Cecelia nodded.

"Mmhm," she said, "I guess I'll go back now."

 _It's not like anyone really wants me here anyway._

Cecelia turned around, and Yusei grabbed onto her wrist.

"Don't go," he said, "We can have fun!"

Cecelia smiled and nodded. Yusei was right. She could still do things with them there. Even if Jack was a butt, Yusei and Crow seemed nice enough. They were nice to her, and it didn't matter to them that she was from the city.

"You can meet Martha!" said Yusei.

"Yeah!" said Crow, "She's like our mom!"

Cecelia sniffled. She nodded, and then paused.

"What do you mean she like your mom?" she asked.

"She takes care of us," said Yusei, "None of us have real parents anymore."

Cecelia was speechless. They all didn't have parents? She couldn't imagine what her life would be like without her parents. What would she even do?

Cecelia looked down, struggling to find something to say. She couldn't.

"Let's just go see Martha," said Jack as he turned around, "We can forget this entire conversation even happened."

Cecelia, Yusei, and Crow nodded, and followed the older boy inside. Jack was only a year older than Cecelia and Yusei, and he was two years older than Crow.

When they walked inside, the woman wasn't there anywhere.

"Martha!" yelled Crow, "We want you to meet someone!"

"Martha!" yelled Yusei and Jack.

The darker skinned woman appeared around the corner. She was cleaning her hands with a towel.

"I'm here," she said, "What do you boys want? I thought you were playing outside."

"We were," said Yusei, "Until she came."

The boys stepped out of the way, revealing Cecelia who was hiding behind them. The girl had her arms in front of her, with her right hand placed on her left elbow. She was avoiding eye contact, and looking down at the ground. She didn't even know how long she had been gone. Were her parents back yet? What would they do if they found out?

Martha knelt down to be at Cecelia's level.

"And what's your name?" she asked the smaller girl. Cecelia shifted nervously and glanced up at Martha.

"My name's...Cecelia Briceño," she said slowly. Martha smiled.

"It's nice to meet you Cecelia," she said smiling, "You heard my name already, but I'm Martha. I take care of all the children at the orphanage here."

Cecelia nodded and looked back to the boys.

"It was nice to meet you Martha," she said, "I think I have to go. I don't know when my parents will get back, and I don't wanna get in trouble."

Martha looked at Yusei, Jack, and Crow.

"Parents?" she asked, "I thought—"

"—I'm from the city," said Cecelia quickly, "My parents are Sector Security. We moved here for a while."

"The city," said Martha with amusement, "I never thought someone from Neo Domino City would come here. Even so, Cecelia, you're welcome here anytime."

Cecelia smiled and nodded.

"Thank you, Martha."

There were suddenly sirens blaring. The sign of Sector Security. There weren't that many sirens, but at least two officers were there. And Cecelia had a pretty good idea of who.

"Cecelia! Come out right now!"

Uh oh.

* * *

 **Yeesh! Cecelia just can't follow instructions! She's going to get it in the next chapter, so stay tuned for that!**

 **On a completely different note, I started playing Doki Doki Literature Club yesterday! It's so creepy and scary and good, omigosh. But yeah, that's something that I started.**

 **And then aside from that, I'm in the middle of exams. Not literally, but the week of exams. This year's really weird; my school decided to do exams on Thursday and Friday, then the weekend, and then Monday and Tuesday for exams, and Wednesday is a conflict day. This is the first time they've done it too, and I don't really see why. Ugh, I hate exams T-T But yeah, almost halfway through my last year of high school, so that's good. I guess.**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I'll see you in the next one! Don't forget to R &R!**


	5. Prepare for a Duel!

"Cecelia! Get out here right now!"

Cecelia looked at Martha, Yusei, Jack, and Crow and smiled nervously.

"They found out," she said. Cecelia looked forward and walked out of the house. Her two parents were there along with a few other Securities. Seeing all of them looking at her either with disappointment or anger made her look down in shame. She slowly walked over to her parents, and Faye looked at her with an expression that was beyond anger.

"We're going home," said Faye, "Now."

Cecelia got on her mother's duel runner, and Cecelia's mother mounted it as well. She sped off, glaring at everything in front of her.

Jamie looked back at Martha and the kids nervously.

"I'm sorry about her," he said, "Have a nice day!"

He and the rest of the Sector Security officers sped off, leaving Yusei and the others staring there in shock.

Cecelia was sure she wasn't going to see them again now. There was just no way her parents were going to let her out now. Not until they were back in Neo Domino City. Especially not her mom.

They arrived back at their temporary home. Faye looked at her daughter.

"We told you that we would be back in a few hours," she said, " _Boba,_ could you seriously not think of anything else to do? You had to leave the house?"

Cecelia fought the tears, but she knew she deserved it. Her mom could be pretty harsh when she was angry.

"I'm sorry," she said with a shaky voice, "I just really wanted to know more about them."

"And I told you not to get into any trouble," continued Faye, "What if something would have happened to you on your way over there? You don't even care do you? You never care about anything!"

Cecelia stood there in silence. She didn't want to make her mother any more angry, so it was just best for her to let her mother keep talking until she was done.

Faye kept talking for ten more minutes, and then Jamie stopped her.

" _Mi amor,_ I think Cecelia gets the point," he said to his wife, "Why don't you just stop for now?"

Faye huffed and said, "Fine. But for the rest of the time that we're here, Cecelia, you are not allowed to leave this house unless you are with one of us."

Cecelia squeezed the strap of her flute case and nodded. She then turned around and walked to her room — she knew that part was coming next. She walked to her bed and flopped down onto it, face first. She just groaned into her sheets. She didn't really want to do anything else.

She slipped her flute case off of her shoulder and slowly rolled over to look up at the ceiling. Why did she have to be dumb and try and find those three boys at the orphanage again?

 _They were just too interesting,_ thought Cecelia with a sigh, _But I guess I have to forget about them._

She pulled her deck out and looked at her cards. It felt like something was wrapping itself around her, but in a good way. It wasn't suffocating, instead, it was warm. Or gave off that sort of feeling. Cecelia felt more confidence, more power in herself. She felt like she could defeat anything that stood in her way. It was very comforting.

As soon as it came, the feeling was gone. It came and went in a split second, but it felt like a good few minutes had gone by. Cecelia layer her deck next to her and looked up at the ceiling again.

Cecelia let out a small puff of air and closed her eyes. After the day she had, all she wanted to do was sleep.

* * *

 _Seven years later..._

Cecelia opened her eyes and got out of bed. She was in her room in their apartment in New Domino City. Her parents were already gone, so she made herself a simple breakfast of scrambled eggs. She ate it quickly, then left with her flute. She was getting better at playing and performing, so now she performed for others. It was just so she could have something to do.

She left, and walked out into the streets of Neo Domino City. She saw some people dueling and almost stopped her journey to her destination. She hadn't gotten a chance to duel in such a long time. She still practiced with her parents, but she hadn't really had a good duel with a stranger. She still always carried her deck with her just in case.

Anyway, today she was planning to play just outside of the Arcadia Movement building. A lot of people passed by there, so why not? A few days ago, she had tried to play outside of the Tops, but people didn't take too kindly to that. It was a good thing her parents were Sector Security — they were the ones that had come to investigate the situation. Cecelia was lucky enough to just get off with a warning...and a week without any music or dueling. That was definitely the worst week of her life.

But it was time to forget about that. All she had to do was focus and play, and maybe have a duel later.

She arrived at the street where the Arcadia Movement building was. It was kind of small — they weren't starting out, but they weren't really big or popular yet either. People didn't really know what to think of them, but it wasn't really too good. Only psychic duelists were allowed in there. They could cause actual damage during duels. Of course, those were just rumors. No one knew for sure.

Cecelia took her flute out, and set her case up so people could leave money if they wanted. Not many people did, but it didn't matter to her. She didn't care that much about money anyway. This entire thing was just to get her more practice.

She put the silver flute up to her lips and started playing. Some people stopped because they were not expecting the sudden noise, and some even stayed a bit to watch her and listen to the music. Cecelia played song after song, getting a good amount of money in the process. Much more than she did other days. Maybe she was getting better?

A few hours later, Cecelia packed up her things and started walking home. She took the money out of her case — a good $70 — and made her back. Sure, that didn't seem like a lot, but playing on the street didn't make a lot of money anyway.

Cecelia was on the way back to her house, and she looked around. Maybe she would come across a duelist that wanted to have a duel. She was itching to use her cards again. Her parents wanted her to enroll at Duel Academia, but she didn't think that was necessary. She thought she could duel just fine on her own without going to school for learning how to duel. Cecelia thought it was pointless.

She subconsciously walked to Duel Academia, and saw people dueling. She wanted to join in, but she knew that would come with a request to enroll. Cecelia saw the chancellor outside, and quickly tried to duck for cover. It was too late; he had already seen her.

"Ah! Is that you?! Miss Briceño! Cecelia Briceño!"

He ran out to find her and saw Cecelia crouched down behind the wall. He held a hand out to her, and she reluctantly took it. Cecelia stood up and looked up at him.

"Hi Principal!" she said, "To what do I owe the pleasure?"

"I should be asking you that!" he said, "Why are you over here? Have you come to enroll?"

Cecelia slowly shook her head.

"Sorry no," she said slowly, "I just accidentally walked here; I didn't mean anything by it."

"I insist you duel here," he said, "After trying, you'll want to stay!"

"That's a good idea Principal," said a girl. Cecelia and the chancellor turned to look at a girl who had started speaking. She had fiery red hair and orange eyes.

"Ah!" exclaimed the chancellor, "Himika it's you! Right, Cecelia, this is one of the top students at Duel Academia. You two can have a duel. If you lose you have to enroll."

"But what if I win?" asked Cecelia. Himika started laughing.

"I highly doubt that," she said, "But if you win, I don't think the chancellor will bother you anymore to enroll here."

The chancellor nodded.

"Right," he said, "I you win, I won't bother you, and I will convince your parents to do the same."

Cecelia stayed silent for a few moments, and then nodded. It would be good to get her parents off of her case.

"Yeah," she said smirking, "I'll do that."

Himika smiled and walked toward the school.

"Just follow me," said the orange eyed girl, "We'll duel on one of the courts inside."

Cecelia nodded and followed. Inside Duel Academia, it was very big and spacious. A lot of students were there dueling, and they were all wearing different uniforms.

Himika led Cecelia to one of the courts, and they stood on opposite sides of each other. Himika activated her duel disk, and then handed one to Cecelia, and Cecelia activated hers.

"I'm gonna set this duel on fire!" yelled Himika.

"Let's do this," said Cecelia.

"DUEL!"

* * *

 **Oh my goodness I'm so sorry! I completely forgot to update for the week! I had the chapter ready, and with Christmas and everything, I just ended up forgetting to update! Yeesh, I'm just a terrible author T-T**

 **Well, the duel will be in the next chapter! Finally, am I right? You'll get to see Cecelia's deck, as well as a few cards that I made up for Himika's deck. Well, all of them will have been made up.**

 **Real quick minor shoutout — or shoutouts — I guess. Thank you Time Thief so much for all your reviews! They're so nice and really enjoyable to read. As stated above all of Cecelia's cards have been made up by moi, and so will Himika's cards, so that'll be fun to reveal. And RaisingHeartExelion, thank you so much for your review too! I'll do my best not to disappoint with my writing hehehe...**

 **But in regards to the story, it is moving along a bit more with that time skip. Still not at the point of when the show starts, just a few years before. So we're not there just yet, but will be soon. I just figured a little backstory and a little more introduction of the characters would be good. Mainly Cecelia, and now Himika, who will be a part of the story for now, and maybe later as well.**

 **If you couldn't tell** **already, Himika's deck will be based on fire creatures and such. Yeah, just a lot of fire. The next chapter will be a little spicy, if you know what I mean. You know what? That was just a bad attempt of a pun.**

 **I'll just leave now. Don't forget to R &R!**


	6. Music vs Fire

"DUEL!"

 **Cecelia 4000; Himika 4000**

"Since we're dueling on my turf," said Himika, "You can go first."

"Gladly," said Cecelia, "Then it's my turn. Draw!"

Cecelia drew a card from her deck and smiled.

"I'll go ahead and summon Symphony Star **(Lv 4 Tuner: ATK 1200 DEF 1100)** in attack mode!"

Symphony Star was a white bear cub sitting on a bright, but soft yellow star. Sparkles were sprinkling down from the star, but instead of your average sparkles, they were music notes.

"Thanks to Symphony Star's ability, I can draw a card from my deck, and if it's a monster, I can special summon it to the field. Lucky Draw!"

Cecelia looked at the card she drew and smiled.

"I summon Symphony Djun **(Lv 2: ATK 300 DEF 200)** in attack mode!"

Symphony Djun was a small White Russian Dwarf hamster with ears shaped like music notes. It was completely white.

"Now I tune Symphony Star and Symphony Djun! Protector of music and the song we all share! Synchro Summon! Symphony Warrior!"

Symphony Warrior **(Lv 6 Synchro: ATK 1900 DEF 800)** was a warrior with white clothes. He was wearing a black vest with some white music notes here and there. He also had a black belt with some daggers on the back. Symphony Warrior had white hair with a section that was colored black.

"Due to Symphony Warrior's ability, I can special summon the monsters that it took to summon him back onto the field. Come on back Symphony Star and Symphony Djun!"

The two Symphony monsters appeared back onto the field.

"Since I can't attack on the first turn, I'll just set two face downs and end my turn."

 **Cecelia 4000; Himika 4000**

"My turn! Draw!" said Himika, "Impressive. You were able to Synchro Summon on your first turn, and you have three monsters. You're pretty good Cecelia Briceño. I'm going to activate the field spell Flame Wasteland. This field spell gives all Flame monster a chance to come back once they have been destroyed."

The field around them became barren and there were volcanoes seen in the distance.

"Now I'll go ahead and summon Flame Deer **(Lv 3 Tuner: ATK 500 DEF 1000)** in defense mode! When he's summoned, I get 200 lifepoints multiplied by the number of monsters on the field. There are four monsters."

 **Himika: 4800**

Flame Deer is an orange deer with a lighter face. There are a few flames coming off of the deer's ears and tail, and it looks like the antlers are made of fire. Because it was in defense mode, it was tinted blue.

Himika looked like she was thinking, but then stopped.

"I'm gonna go ahead and end my turn there with a face down. Your move."

 **Cecelia 4000; Himika 4800**

"Alright then, my turn!" said Cecelia, "Draw!"

Cecelia looked the monsters on the field. Himika only had one while she had three, but the monster that Himika had could come back after being destroyed.

"I'm gonna go ahead and have Symphony Star attack Flame Deer! Shooting Star Burst!"

The star started spinning and then shot toward the deer.

"Let me stop you there!" said Himika, "I activate my trap Third Degree Burn! When one of your monsters attacks, I can activate it and it destroys the attacking monster, stopping the attack! For every 500 of both of our monster's attack points, I get a Flame Token **(Lv 1: ATK 0 DEF 0)**!"

Flame Deer had 500 attack points, and Symphony Star had 1200, so three Flame Tokens appeared on Himika's side of the field. Symphony Star was destroyed and exploded into yellow shards mid attack.

Cecelia's expression hardened, and she looked at her monsters. After a few moments, she smirked.

"Not bad," she said, "But I still have two more monsters, and you're out of facedowns. So I think I'll have Symphony Warrior attack Flame Deer! And since it can't be protected anymore, it'll be destroyed!"

Symphony Warrior attacked Flame Deer, and it was destroyed. Himika braced herself and took the damage.

 **Himika: 4600**

"And now, Symphony Djun will attack you directly!"

 **Himika: 4300**

"I'll leave it at that," said Cecelia, "I end my turn."

"And now that the Battle Phase has ended," said Himika, "I can bring back a monster that has been destroyed due to my field spell Flame Wasteland! Come back Flame Deer!"

 **Cecelia 4000; Himika 4300**

"My turn! Draw!" said Himika, "From my hand, I activate the spell Fire Fuel! By sacrificing 100 life points, I can raise the monster of the monster of my choosing by one! And I pick, Flame Deer!"

 **Flame Deer: Lv 4**

 **Himika: 4200**

"And now, I tune Flame Deer to my three Flame Tokens! A goddess that watches over us all and the eternal flame! Synchro Summon! Burn, Flame Goddess **(Lv 7 Synchro: ATK 2000 DEF 1600)**!"

A woman in a white dress that looked like it was made of white flames appeared. Her hair was the same color as her dress, and she had bright red eyes.

"That's her ace!"

"Yes! Himika's best monster!"

"Beat that Sector Security kid!"

Cecelia sighed and rolled her eyes at all the extra comments that were yelled out from the crowd.

"I think I'll have Flame Goddess attack Symphony Djun!"

Cecelia smirked.

"Trying to get rid of some of my lifepoints, huh?" she said, "Then let me stop you there. I'm gonna activate Symphony Djun's ability! Once a turn, I can negate the attack, and half of the attacking monster's attack points get added to her attack points!"

 **Symphony Djun: 1300**

Himika slightly glared at Cecelia.

"Alright then. I end my turn."

 **Cecelia 4000; Himika 4200**

There were more murmurs throughout the crowd. Mainly about how great that card was, especially since it was a lower level monster.

"My turn!" shouted Cecelia, "Draw! I activate the spell card Power to the Music! This increases the attack and defense of all Symphony monsters on the field by 100!"

 **Symphony Djun: ATK 1400 DEF 300**

 **Symphony Warrior: ATK 2000 DEF 900**

Himika's eyes widened in realization.

"Symphony Warrior has enough attack points to—"

"—Take your monster out!" finished Cecelia, "And that's exactly what he's gonna do! Go! Deafening Slash!"

Symphony Warrior charged at Flame Goddess.

"What are you doing?" asked Himika, "You'll just destroy your own monster!"

"Not exactly," said Cecelia, "Because I activate my facedown! Symphony Barrier! It protects one monster from being destroyed, and that monster is Symphony Warrior!"

Symphony Warrior survived the attack, while Flame Goddess was destroyed.

"Now, Symphony Djun can attack you directly!"

The small hamster, that had grown a little bigger due to its power up earlier in the duel ran at Himika.

 **Himika: 2800**

Cecelia smirked.

"With that, I set one face down and end my turn. Your move Himika."

Flame Goddess reappeared on the field because of the field spell's effect.

 **Cecelia 4000; Himika 2800**

"Draw!" yelled Himika, "I summon Flame Fox **(Lv 3 ATK 700 DEF 700)** in attack mode!"

Flame Fox was a small red fox that looked like it was made of fire.

"Flame Goddess, go ahead and attack Symphony Warrior!"

"I activate my trap, Slow Tempo! When a monster attacks, it gets switched into defense mode and it's defense points are turned into damage!"

Himika braced herself as she took the damage.

 **Himika: 1200**

"Now I'm going to activate Flame Fox's ability! Once per turn, by sending one card to the graveyard, I can either increase its attack by its defense or protect it from being destroyed. I choose to increase it's attack!"

 **Flame Fox: 1400**

"Now I activate my spell, Volcanic Eruption! It forces our monsters to battle, and no matter what, you take the battle damage instead of me. Flame Fox, attack Symphony Warrior!"

Cecelia braced herself for the damage. For a moment, she felt more a gust of wind than normal. She just shrugged it off and continued with the battle.

 **Cecelia: 3400**

"But Symphony warrior still isn't destroyed," said Cecelia, "So say goodbye to your Flame Fox."

The fox turned into an explosion of yellow shards.

"I place a facedown and end my turn," said Himika, "And Flame Fox comes back with it's attack points returned to normal!"

 **Flame Fox: 700**

 **Cecelia 3400; Himika 1200**

 _Darn,_ thought Cecelia, _That field spell's getting annoying. But this duel's almost over._

"My turn!" shouted Cecelia, "Draw! I'll have Symphony Warrior attack Flame Goddess!"

 **Himika: 800**

"I activate Flame Goddess's ability!" shouted Himika, "When she is successfully destroyed, you take 200 lifepoints of damaged multiplied by the number of Flame monsters on the field. The only one that's left is Flame Fox!"

Two small balls of fire formed and flew toward Cecelia. She felt the air in front of her get extremely hot. Where did that come from? How was she starting to feel the effects of the battle damage?

 **Cecelia: 3200**

"I hope it's not getting too hot for you," said Himika, "Can't take the heat?"

"Oh don't worry about that," retorted Cecelia, "I'll be fine. It's you that should be worried. In case you've forgotten, I still have one more monster. Go, Symphony Djun! Attack Flame Fox!"

"I activate Flame Fox's ability!" interrupted Himika, "In case _you've_ forgotten, I can activate its ability once per turn. This time, I'm going to protect it by sending one of my cards in my deck to the graveyard."

"But you still take damage!" said Cecelia.

 **Himika: 100**

Cecelia smirked and said, "I end my turn."

 **Cecelia 3200; Himika 100**

"My turn!" yelled Himika, "Draw! From my hand, I activate the spell Burning Flame! This card lights the fire inside of all Flame monsters on the field, raising their attack by every spell and trap card on the field, multiplied by 100!"

There were three spell and trap cards on the field.

 **Flame Fox: 1000**

"Now I activate Flame Fox's ability and raise its attack!"

 **Flame Fox: 1700**

"Now that Flame Fox is powered up, I think I'm gonna have her attack Symphony Djun!"

"Not so fast! I activate Symphony Djun's ability again! Your attack is negated, and half of Flame Fox's attack points get added to Symphony Djun's!"

 **Symphony Djun: 2250**

"Tch," muttered Himika. Cecelia was definitely one of the best duelists she had dueled for a while now. Himika had no idea how to destroy Symphony Djun. If she kept trying to attack it, it would just get more power. The initially small hamster was now looking a lot bigger. Himika didn't really have any other options.

"I end my turn," said Himika reluctantly.

 **Cecelia 3200; Himika 100**

"My turn!" yelled Cecelia, "Draw! I'll have Symphony Djun attack your Flame Fox!"

"Then I'll just go ahead and activate Flame Fox's ability again! I send one card to the graveyard in order to protect both it and me from any damage!"

"But that ability only woks once per turn," said Cecelia smirking, "And I have one more monster! Symphony Warrior! Attack Flame Fox! Deafening Slash!"

With that attack, Flame Fox was defeated, and Himika took the damage.

 **Himika: 0**

 **Winner: Cecelia**

* * *

The projections of Cecelia and Himika's monsters disappeared. Himika fell to her knees in defeat, and Cecelia walked over. She held out a hand to the girl on the ground, and Himka took it. Cecelia helped her up, and smiled.

"Himika, that was a great duel," said Cecelia, "Your monsters are pretty amazing! Flame Goddess's ability is pretty good. I can see why it's your ace."

"Yeah, and your Symphony Djun has an incredible ability," said Himika, "I didn't even think a card like that existed."

"I guess I'm pretty lucky," said Cecelia.

"And Symphony Warrior is a pretty cool ace monster too. When you summon him, you immediately get the cards you used to summon him back on the field so you're not just left with one monster!"

"Thanks," said Cecelia, "But, he's not my ace."

Himika and the rest of the people that had heard looked at Cecelia in shock.

"What do you mean he's not your ace?!" exclaimed Himika. Cecelia was about to respond, but then looked down at her watch. It was getting late. She made sure she still had her flute case looped around her body, and started to run out.

"Sorry, but I gotta go! My win means I don't have to join Duel Academia, right? Right. Later!"

Cecelia sprinted back to her home, leaving the others speechless. She had a stronger card that she hid from them?

Himika looked at the direction that Cecelia left in shock. Did that mean Cecelia wasn't being fully serious when they were dueling? Himika was pat on the shoulder by the chancellor.

"Principal?"

"It's a shame you lost," he said, "That girl could have stood with you as one of the best duelists here. But alas, everyone has to lose sometimes. Let's just hope she'll be willing to help out once in a while."

Himika nodded.

"Yeah."

* * *

 **HAPPY NEW YEAR! *lights confetti canon* I hope all of you enjoyed or are enjoying the last few minutes of 2017, and I wish you all the best for the new year!**

 **But that chapter was a longer one, wasn't it? I hope you guys liked this duel, it took me a** **while to write. I hope I didn't make Cecelia's cards too OP, I wasn't trying to do that. And that's kind of why Symphony Djun is a "Lucky Draw," hehe. I admit that card might be a little OP, so it won't make too many appearances. I just wanted to show off some of my favorite cards that Cecelia has.**

 **Um, so yeah. That's all I have to say for now. I hope you liked the chapter, and I'll see you next time! Don't forget to R &R!**


	7. Back to Satellite

**Hello! I finally remembered to do the disclaimer! As you know, I obviously do not own _Yu-Gi-Oh! 5D's,_ just my characters and Cecelia's cards. And Himika's cards, if she ever appears again. Enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

Cecelia arrived at her house, and her parents were waiting. Faye looked just a little upset.

"Where were you Cecelia?" asked Faye, "Why didn't you tell us you were going to be late?"

Cecelia took her flute case off and set it on the couch. She opened her mouth to speak, but her mother interrupted again.

"You know that doesn't go there," she said, "Take it to your room. I don't want anything that doesn't belong here out here. The flute goes in your room — that's where you practice."

Cecelia sighed.

"Ok _mama_ ," she said. Cecelia dropped her flute case off in her room, and she walked back to where her mom was. Faye looked at Cecelia.

"So where were you?"

"Duel Academia. I—"

"What?!" exclaimed both of her parents. Jamie had just walked into the room.

"Did you enroll there?" asked Jamie, "Why didn't we get a call?!"

Cecelia huffed.

"Would you let me finish?" she asked, "I didn't go to enroll. I accidentally passed by there on my way home. The chancellor asked me to join again, and I refused. Then another girl — Himika, I think — challenged me to a duel. The conditions were that if she won, I would enroll."

"So that means you won?" asked Faye. Cecelia nodded.

"Yeah, and that proves I don't have to go there. Himika's one of the top students at Duel Academia. Plus you two have taught me more that those guys will ever be able to."

Her parents looked at each other and smiled.

"I guess we make pretty good teachers," said Faye.

"I guess so," said Jamie.

"Anyway," said Faye, "Cecelia, go ahead and start getting ready. We're going to go to the Satellite again. Apparently, some dueling groups are getting more prominent over there. Since this will be good training for you, you're coming with us."

Cecelia sighed. If it wasn't enrolling at Duel Academia, her parents were trying to push her to join them in Sector Security when she got older. They even went through the trouble of getting her a jacket. It was the same color as all of the other Sector Security uniforms, but it just didn't have any words on it. Her father also gave her his scarf that he wore when she was little. He just told the higher-ups that it got blown off, or that he lost it. Apparently they believed it, because Jamie got a new scarf, and Cecelia was given his old one. He said that she would need it when she became an officer.

Cecelia walked to her room and put her "junior" uniform on. She put the jacket on over a black shirt, and also put on jeans and black boots. She tied the yellow scarf around her neck and looked at herself. Her brown hair was shoulder length, curly, and parted in the middle. It now had a two small streaks of lilac and red on the right side of her head.

The teen duelist walked out to where her parents were waiting.

"You look great!" said Jamie, "Just imagine what you'll look like when you have the fulll uniform on!"

Cecelia smiled.

"We'll just have to see about that Dad," she said. She didn't think her mind was going to change anytime soon. Either way, it was an excuse to get out of the city. Her mother and father fussed over her some more, and then they were off to the Satellite. Cecelia sighed as she sat in the car on her way to the helicopter. Her parents were riding their duel runners, but she wasn't allowed to have one yet. Her parents wanted her to be a part of Security, so why didn't they let her get a duel runner built? It would help with her "training."

Cecelia sighed as she looked out the window. She just hoped she could get a duel runner soon. She was too dumb with mechanics to try and build one. She could even help build it. If they just told her what to do, she would be able to do it.

Soon, they were at the Satellite. Cecelia looked around. It was a depressing as ever. Since this was the part of the Satellite closest to the city, the dueling gangs obviously wouldn't be there.

"They should be deeper in the Satellite," said Cecelia to Jamie and Faye, "And they definitely wouldn't come out with a bunch of officers here."

Jamie nodded.

"Yeah," he said, "Good job Cecelia. I see those Sector Security gears turning in your head. And at such a young age."

Cecelia smiled. She liked seeing her father like that, and she liked that she actually thought of something that was correct.

"Then everyone will split up," said Faye, "Small groups, or even on your own. We have to let each other know when we see something suspicious. Everyone got that?"

Cecelia, Jamie, and the other officers nodded. They all then started forming their own groups. Cecelia turned around and started walking on her own, before anyone noticed and made her pair up with someone. She knew she could manage on her own. Most people would just challenge her to a duel, and nothing else.

Cecelia wandered around Satellite, trying to keep an eye out for any duels that were going on. All the dueling groups probably had different hideouts, but it was strange not seeing anyone. Sure, there weren't many people out to start with, but now there was just no one in sight. Was this because of the dueling gangs?

As Cecelia walked further, she heard people talking, like they were creating a plan. A few moments later, she heard some footsteps. They were coming towards her.

"So we're taking down a new group that popped up?"

"Mm. They call themselves Team Artist. They've taken some of our territory, so we have to take it back!"

"Yeah!"

"Team Satisfaction will take back our territory!"

Cecelia paused. Some of those voices sounded familiar, she just couldn't place it. She felt like she should know some of the people speaking. And Team Satisfaction? That was one of the dueling gangs, wasn't it?

She jumped back, and hid behind a building, peeking out occasionally. She didn't hear voices anymore, but she didn't want to let them know where she was by telling any other Sector Security officer. That wouldn't really turn out well for her. Cecelia just hoped those duelists were gone.

Cecelia looked out from behind the building again, and she felt someone grab her wrists. She froze, then tried to get out of the person's grip. It couldn't be a girl, this person was way too strong for that. And it felt like they were taller than her, and she wasn't even short to begin with. Cecelia hadn't met too many girls that were taller than her.

"Let me go," she said. Her voice came out calmer than expected.

The person didn't respond.

"I know you're part of a dueling gang, and I know you know the consequences that come with that," she said, "So _let go._ "

Cecelia wanted to add that she could call of backup at any moment, but she didn't want to let them know that. She had to wait to reveal her options.

"She's probably one of their members," said a voice, "We have to interrogate her to get information about Team Artist."

Cecelia kept quiet.

 _Sounds like you're playing a game,_ she mentally retorted, _So stop and let the grownups deal with Satellite._

"A quiet one hmm?" she heard the same person say, "I think taking back our territory can wait; let's find out what she's up to — I have a way to get information."

* * *

 **Hehe, end of chapter! I hope you guys might have an idea of who was speaking at the end. If not, I'm really sorry T-T Either way, they will be revealed at the beginning of the next chapter! So I'll see you then! Don't forget to R &R!**


	8. Interrogation

**Hey guys! So this a quick warning type thing: I made it so Kiryu is at the point where he gets violent when anyone tries to take some of Team Satisfaction's territory and stuff, so something related to that is going to happen. Just a warning that probably isn't needed.**

 **I don't own _Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's_ as you all know, so enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

"I have a way to get information."

Cecelia shivered slightly at those words. She didn't like where this was going. She had to let the Sector Security officers know about it.

She almost glanced down at her communicator, but stopped herself. She could probably get information from this group as well. She just had to focus, and find out a way to get information from them. Maybe staying quiet would get them frustrated and accidentally reveal something.

The one behind her kept holding her wrists and the others came into her view. A guy with icy blue hair and green eyes was the one she saw first. Then one with orange hair, and then one with black hair and golden highlights. They were all wearing brown vests.

Wait, black and golden hair? Upside down crab shape?

 _Yusei?!_ thought Cecelia, _He's part of a dueling gang? Then that means the orange haired guy with a criminal mark is Crow. So then...is Jack holding my wrists?!_

Cecelia kept quiet. Running into them when she came back to Satellite couldn't just be a coincidence. She had tried so hard to forget about them, to put their memory in the very back of her mind.

But, why didn't they recognize her? Was she really that easy to forget?

Cecelia felt a pang in her chest, but she didn't exactly know why. She only saw them twice when she was eight. She only knew their names and that they were orphans. And that their caretaker's name was Martha. Maybe she could use that information to her advantage?

"So you're Team Satisfaction?" asked Cecelia. She really didn't want to say anything, but she felt like she had to so she could get somewhere.

"And interrogating someone in the street?" she added, "Doesn't really seem like a good idea. You never know who could be listening."

As she said the second part, she pressed the button on her communicator as discreetly as she could. She just hoped no one noticed.

The man with icy blue hair stepped closer and grabbed Cecelia's chin.

"I don't think we'll have a problem," he said, "And I'm the only one asking questions here."

He punched Cecelia in the gut, knocking the wind out of her. She coughed and heard someone speak.

"Kiryu!"

It sounded like Yusei, and it sounded like he was shocked. Kiryu looked back at Yusei, Crow, and Jack.

"You guys look for any others; I can take it from here."

The three teens reluctantly nodded and ran away to find members of Team Artist.

When they were gone, Kiryu looked back at Cecelia.

"Now then," he said, "Why don't you tell me about Team Artist? Who's your leader?"

Cecelia didn't say anything. Saying something that showed she didn't know anything would probably be easier than acting like she knew what was up. However, she did overhear them say that Team Artist was pretty new.

"So you guys are Team Satisfaction?" asked Cecelia, "I thought you guys would be a bigger group."

"We don't need anyone else," said Kiryu, "We've conquered all of this on our own."

He grabbed the collar of her shirt and slammed her against the wall.

"I said that I'm the only one asking questions here," he said, "Don't make me repeat that again. Now, who's the leader of Team Artist?"

Cecelia glared at Kiryu.

"I don't know," she said, "The don't really keep lower members in the know. Between you and me, they're probably far gone by now. You guys aren't the quietest in the world."

Kiryu glanced down at Cecelia's waist and saw the blinking communicator. His eyes widened in realization, and his grip loosened on her shirt.

"What's that?"

Cecelia tilted her head in feigned confusion.

"What's what?"

She followed Kiryu's gaze and saw that he was staring at her communicator. Her eyes widened in surprise and worry. Did that mean he had connected the dots?

In a flash, Kiryu had Cecelia pinned to the ground. His arm was across her throat, cutting the amount of air she was getting by quite a lot. Cecelia was pushing up on Kiryu's arm, so her palms were face up. Kiryu had a dangerous glint in his eye.

"You're part of Security?" he asked. His tone had a mix of anger, calm, and disgust. It scared Cecelia just a little bit. She decided to feign innocence.

"Why would I be part of Security?" she asked, "Are you crazy?"

Kiryu pushed down even more.

"Don't you dare lie to me!" said Kiryu with a hateful glare, "We're going to take the Satellite from Security!"

Cecelia smiled.

"Good luck trying," she said, returning the glare, "You won't be able to take it away so easily. Sector Security has a lot more power than four guys in a dueling gang. Your dream of taking over Satellite is just that. A dream."

"So you are an officer," he said. Cecelia shook her head.

"Not exactly. You'll never guess my relation, so why don't I just let Security know all the names of the members of Team Satisfaction. I may not know your last names, but what I have should be enough."

By that time, Yusei, Crow, and Jack had all returned. Kiryu grabbed Cecelia's jacket again in order to look more intimidating.

"How do you know the rest of them?" he asked.

"It's all in the past," said Cecelia. She then turned to look at the three and gave them a small smile saying, "Right? Yusei, Jack, Crow."

They looked surprised. Yusei took a step forward.

"How do you know our names?" he asked. Cecelia shrugged.

"Isn't that a good question?" she said, "If I had to guess, I think it's been about seven years?"

"Seven years?" asked Yusei.

Cecelia nodded, then reached forward, giving Kiryu a shark bite on the stomach. He immediately let go of her and put both of his hands covering the sore spot.

"Kiryu!"

Cecelia shifted so her weight was on her left foot, and then crossed her arms over her chest.

"I didn't really think that you would try to be so intimidating to a girl," said Cecelia with a sigh, "I guess there aren't any rules in Satellite."

Jack glared at Cecelia and walked toward her.

"Why won't you tell us how you know our names?" he asked.

"Because I thought you would figure it out," said Cecelia. Suddenly, someone started speaking on her communicator.

 _"Hey!"_ said the voice, _"Cecelia come in! Are you alright?"_

Cecelia looked down at the communicator and picked it up. She held it to her mouth and started speaking.

"Hey Dad," she responded to Jamie, "It's all good here. I'll give you and Mom all the information I have when I get back."

 _"Okay. When you're done, get back here ASAP."_

"Yeah, I got it. Be there soon."

Cecelia put the communicator back on her hip and looked at the three duelists in front of her. They all looked shocked, like they couldn't believe she was in front of them.

"Cecelia?!"

* * *

 **Yay! The official** **reunion has started! I think I made Kiryu just the right amount of crazy, so there's that. But yeah, I hope you guys liked this chapter, and I'll see you in the next one! Don't forget to R &R!**


	9. Reunion

"Cecelia?!"

Yusei stepped forward.

"Cecelia?" he asked, "Is that really you?"

She nodded.

"Yeah."

"Why didn't you tell us sooner?" asked Crow. Cecelia frowned.

"Because I thought you were going to figure it out sooner," deadpanned Cecelia, causing Crow to scratch his neck and look away.

"Cecelia, why are you here?" asked Yusei. Cecelia shifted and put her hands in her pockets and looked up at the sky.

"I'm doing some training with Sector Security," responded Cecelia, "And they decided to come over here with them to take care of some dueling gangs."

She then turned to look at them. Cecelia fixed her jacket before speaking again.

"I really didn't think you guys would be okay with your leader attempting to beat up a girl like that."

"Well—"

"Don't give me excuses Yusei. I'll be going now. I might see you guys again sometime. Or I might not. See you around."

With that, Cecelia walked away, not sparing a glance behind her.

* * *

Cecelia was almost at her destination, but she paused to lean on a wall. She rubbed her stomach where Kiryu had punched her and sighed. There was definitely going to be a bruise there. And it hurt like hell.

The young duelist struggled to get up. Acting confident like that had taken a lot out of her as well. She really didn't like doing things like that.

After her short rest, Cecelia resumed her journey to the edge of Satellite. She really hoped she didn't run into any other people like Kiryu on her way back. That would be annoying.

Thankfully, Cecelia did not run into anyone else on her way back, but that might be because of the dueling gangs that were roaming around. She saw some of the Sector Security squad cars and knew that she was supposed to meet back there to tell them what she had learned from Team Satisfaction.

Cecelia reached her destination and was immediately greeted by one of the younger officers.

"Cecelia, are you alright? You got your parents and everyone worried!"

"I'm fine Zen," said Cecelia, "Just got punched a bit, but no big deal."

"No big deal? I don't know what's wrong with your brain, kid, but that actually is something to worry about."

"'Kid?' You're not even that much older than me!"

"But I'm an officer, and you're not. And I am older than you! I'm 20 years old, while you're just 15. That's not considered 'not that much older' Cecelia."

She huffed and looked away. Zen had pale pink hair and hazel eyes. He was wearing the normal Sector Security uniform, and was significantly taller than Cecelia, who still was not fully grown yet.

Cecelia sighed and walked with Zen toward the other squad cars. Faye was there getting information from officers as well as helping organize all the information along with Tetsu Ushio. Jamie was also there, scribbling down some notes along with Faye.

Cecelia and Zen walked to the back of the small line that was forming. Zen looked down at Cecelia.

"So what did you learn? I hope it was worth it."

"You weren't nearby?" asked Cecelia as she held up her communicator, "I was transmitting it all on this. Or, maybe I recorded it? I still don't really know how this thing works."

Zen sighed.

"And this is why you should have taken someone with you," he said while flipping his hair, "Was it worth it? Going alone, I mean."

"Yeah," said Cecelia, "I think I got better information that what I would have gotten if I went with someone. You know I'm not that comfortable around other people."

"Still, you would have benefitted from someone going with you."

Zen leaned in.

"I could have gone with you," he said, now much closer to Cecelia's ear, "It would have been fun."

Cecelia pushed him back.

"Stop being weird," she said, "You couldn't have gone anyway; You had to be here and organize everything."

Zen turned his head away and pouted.

"I could have skipped."

Cecelia sighed and looked forward again. She was just about at the front of the line. She saw her mother organizing different papers. And her dad was scribbling down a lot more notes. The officers in front of her and Zen walked out of the way, and Faye, Jamie, and Officer Ushio.

"I have some information about some of the dueling gangs," said Cecelia. Ushio looked at her.

"Oh, hey Cecelia. I didn't know you went out to get information. I thought a kid like you wasn't allowed to do adult things like this."

"Shut up Ushio," said Cecelia, "You know, I can just keep all of this information to myself and not help you."

Ushio turned to look at Jamie and Faye.

"Hey! Officer Briceño and Officer Briceño! Get your kid in check and make her give me information!"

At that moment, both Jamie and Faye looked up and realized that Cecelia was there. Faye immediately ran around the table and hugged her daughter.

"Cecelia! Why didn't you tell us you were going alone? Do you know how dangerous it is around here?"

"That's what I said," said Zen.

"You know I prefer to do things on my own," said Cecelia, "Plus, I bet I have more information than any of your officers."

The three Sector Security officers looked at Cecelia in shock.

"What do you mean?" asked Ushio, "Tell us what you found out."

"I thought you didn't have faith in me," said Cecelia, causing a shocked noise to come out of Ushio. She giggled and then continued.

"Team Satisfaction is the main dueling gang, and they believe that they have conquered all of Satellite. There are four members, but you'll have to excuse me since I only know their first names. The leader I believe is Kiryu — the others certainly listened to him — then the other three members are Yusei, Crow, and Jack."

"Anything else?" asked Jamie.

"No."

"Bullshit," interjected Zen. Jamie looked at him in surprise.

"What do you mean Zen?" he asked. The pink haired officer looked at Cecelia.

"Go on," he said, "Tell them what you told me."

Cecelia glared at Zen before speaking again.

"It's about their leader, Kiryu," she said, "He is pretty violent...territorial, I mean. He thought I was part of some new dueling gang that had emerged, Team Artist, that had taken some of what Team Satisfaction 'controls.'"

"What do you mean by violent?" asked Faye, concern clear in her voice.

"He punched me in the stomach," answered Cecelia, "Several times, actually. He also slammed me up against the wall. But I don't think it was too hard. I'm just a little sore from it. But other than their leader being a little violent, that's all the information I got. It wasn't really easy to get information."

Jamie nodded.

"Sounds about right," he said, "The signal from you communicator came in, but there was just a little bit of static, so we couldn't exactly understand everything."

Faye looked at Jamie in shock.

"You knew about that happening, and you didn't say anything?!" she asked furiously. Jamie nodded.

"Don't worry," said Cecelia, "I'm sure I'll be fine after some ice."

"Then you can stay with us and help organize some papers," said Jamie.

"Yeah," agreed Cecelia, "I don't really feel like going back out there again."

"After all," said Ushio, "We can't have you doing a whole bunch of the work when you aren't even an officer yet."

 _Yet,_ thought Cecelia, _He doesn't even know that I don't really want to be a Sector Security officer._

Cecelia kept quiet after that, and they all continued with their jobs.

* * *

 **And welcome to the end of the chapter! Since I didn't update last week, you guys are getting two chapters one after the other today! Aren't you lucky?**

 **I hope you enjoyed the official reunion! It sure did take them a while to recognize Cecelia, an entire chapter. Yusei, Crow, and Jack sure are slow, aren't they?**

 **I'm thinking we'll be at the beginning of the show in about...three or four chapters? I'm not really sure how I'm going to fully get to that point yet, so we'll just see how this goes. Fun times.**

 **On another note, I hope you liked the introduction of the new character Zen. He'll be making a few more appearances, so look forward to more of the relation between him and Cecelia.**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter and I'll see you in the next one(that's coming right up)! Don't forget to R &R!**


	10. Back and Forth

After helping her parents organize information from the other officers, they were all allowed to go back home to Neo Domino City. Jamie and Faye continued with their Security work, but closer to HQ. Cecelia kept performing on the streets.

Cecelia found herself walking near the HQ of Sector Security, the building where the director, Rex Goodwin, works. She had decided to play her flute around there, maybe something good could come out of it.

Cecelia stood near the entrance, and held the flute up to her lips. She played some beautiful music, drawing the attention of people passing by. She got more money, and at the same time, provided some nice entertainment for the officers working inside.

Faye and Jamie looked down at their daughter.

"So this is what she does while we're at work," said Jamie, "She's gotten better."

"Yeah," said a smiling Faye. She was glad that their daughter had found something to do. They both smiled and looked down at their daughter as they enjoyed the music.

Soon, Cecelia was done playing. She decided to just go home, since she was a little sore from her encounter with Kiryu just two days prior. It had started to bother her just a bit when she was playing, since to play she had to put pressure on her core to get just the right pressure of air for the notes.

Cecelia arrived home, and set her flute down in her room. She then walked out of her room and looked into the freezer for an ice pack. She found a relatively squishy and medium sized one. She then laid down on the couch and looked at her deck. She pulled out her ace monster, one that she hadn't used in a duel yet. It was Symphony Dragon, a dark grey dragon with scales reflecting different colors, like vibrant purple, electric blue, fiery red, and bright yellow. There were music notes on its wings. The snout wasn't too long, and it had horns that didn't stick out much. There were less spikes near its head, and they spread out through its body, but it didn't really have a lot of spikes in general.

Cecelia admired her card, wishing that it was real. She looked at the rest of her deck, and then decided to get up from the couch. Her stomach was feeling a lot better, but it was growling. She needed some food. She looked through the freezer and cooked up some frozen pasta that was there.

Someone knocked on the door.

"Hey kid!" said a voice from the other side of the door, "It's Zen! Open up!"

Cecelia walked to the door and opened to reveal the pink haired officer. He was in uniform, so why was he there?

"Get dressed," he said, "Let's go back to Satellite."

"Back to Satellite?" asked Cecelia, "What do you mean? We basically just got back."

"Team Satisfaction has gotten out of control," said Zen, "Rumor is, they're trying to get Sector Security out of Satellite, and take over completely."

 _I told them it wasn't going to work,_ thought Cecelia with a sigh, _I guess Kiryu isn't the type to give up easily._

"So, are Mom and Dad going too?" asked Cecelia.

"Yeah," confirmed Zen, "They'll be there."

"Okay," said Cecelia, "Just let me get ready."

Cecelia walked back into her room and changed into what was supposed to be her uniform. She walked back out, and Zen was there waiting.

"All set?"

"Yeah."

Zen crossed his arms.

"Then let's get going."

Cecelia went to Satellite with Zen, and met up with the other Sector Security officers, including Jamie, Faye, and Ushio.

"We need to come up with a plan," said Ushio.

"Who put you in charge?" asked Faye, "We need to give all of the details first."

Ushio then grumbled something about them being the same rank, and then cleared his throat.

"Alright, listen up," he started, "Team Satisfaction is saying that they are going to take over all of Satellite, and we need to stop them. We've let them go on with this game long enough. And if we take them down, it won't be long until all of the other dueling gangs can be dealt with too!"

All of the officers cheered, and they all started talking of different ideas. Cecelia was standing around, and heard Zen talking with another officer.

"If only we knew where they were staying," he said, "Then we could probably think of something to do."

Cecelia looked around and smirked. If she could find and follow Team Satisfaction, then that mean she could tell Security where they were hiding out. Cecelia was about to go off on her own without telling anyone, but decided against it. She had to let someone know where she was going.

So she walked over to where Zen was.

"Hey!" she said, "Zen!"

The pink haired officer turned around.

"Kid? What do you want?"

"I thought of an idea," answered Cecelia, "Come over here."

Cecelia led Zen away from the crowd of Sector Security officers that had formed.

"What's your idea?" asked Zen.

"I can go off on my own and find Team Satisfaction," said Cecelia, "If I do that, then I can follow and find out where their hideout is, and tell that to you guys."

"Wow," said Zen, "I think that's the most you've spoken to someone outside of a duel."

"Shut up."

"But," said Zen, "A spy? I actually think that's actually something good for you to do. You're quiet, and you don't really talk all that much unless one of us is talking to you. Alright, go and do what you have to do."

Cecelia was surprised, but nodded anyway.

Cecelia waved and ran off deeper into the Satellite. She had to find some way to get back to Yusei and the others. She just didn't want to see Kiryu again — he was insane.

Cecelia slowed to a jog, and then stopped to look around. The Satellite was as empty as ever, no sign of any dueling gangs.

 _How did I find them the first time?_ wondered Cecelia, _I was just_ _walking around and heard them talking._

Cecelia decided to try and go to the area where she saw them the first time. That's how she would find them again.

Cecelia ran around more, and then stopped.

 _Why are those guys so hard to find?_ wondered Cecelia. She looked around again and sighed. There was no way she was going to find them.

* * *

 **Yes, yes, sucky ending, I know. But they're going to meet up again in the next chapter, so it's going to make up for it! But either way, I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, I guess it can be called somewhat of a filler?**

 **This is the second update for today, schoolwork kind of caught up with me last week, hehe... Anyway, we'll be starting up with the show pretty soon, so look forward to that!**

 **Again, I hope you enjoyed, and I'll see you in the next one! Don't forget to R &R!**


	11. Facility-Bound Kiryu!

Cecelia wandered around a little more, and tried to keep an eye out for any of the members of Team Satisfaction. She passed building after building, and sighed once again. How could she find them in this huge place?

Cecelia looked down a street, and saw a familiar hair shape of an upside down crab. Cecelia smiled in relief and jogged toward Yusei. She was about to call out to him, but she stopped herself. The entire point of going alone, was so she could spy on Team Satisfaction, and let Security know where their headquarters was. How could she forget about that?

Cecelia kept following Yusei, and kept track of all the turns he was making. Cecelia smirked. She had a feeling that they were soon getting close to Team Satisfaction's hideout. She really wanted to talk to him, but helping Security was more important.

Team Satisfaction's hideout was closer to the edge of the city, in a smaller building that was easy to ignore when just passing by. Cecelia kept hidden behind a building and pulled out her communicator. She dialed Zen's number and waited for him to pick up.

 _"Hello?"_

"Can you track my location through here?" asked Cecelia, getting straight to the point.

 _"Oh, it's you kid,"_ said Zen, _"Yeah, I've got your location. Just hang around there and we'll get some officers there."_

"Ok," said Cecelia. She then clipped her communicator back to her waist and looked at the hideout.

"What do we have here?"

Cecelia felt someone grab her shoulders, and she knew the voice all too well.

"Kiryu," muttered Cecelia, "So what are you going to do this time? Try and beat me up a little more?"

She then grabbed his right arm, and twisted her body around. The result was that she got his arm behind his back.

"Looks like I've got you," said Cecelia.

"Or do you?" said Kiryu. It looked like the way Cecelia was bending his arm did nothing but annoy him.

"Do you think they'll still try to take me in when I have you with me?" he asked.

Cecelia responded with a raised eyebrow. Kiryu then stuck his foot out behind him and swept Cecelia's legs out from under her, causing her to fall over and let go of his arm. He then pulled her up and twisted her arm behind her back, much like she had done to him.

"I didn't know Security would have such weak members," said Kiryu, "Oh well."

Kiryu pushed Cecelia into the hideout and up the stairs to the second floor. Yusei was there, and he looked in shock at the scene in front of him.

"Kiryu, what are you doing?!"

"What's wrong Yusei?" asked Kiryu, "You had already abandoned me, so it doesn't matter what I do."

"Yeah, but I don't want you going to the Facility Kiryu! Why do you even have Cecelia with you?"

"She's part of Security," responded Kiryu, "Don't you remember that I said we were going to have to take down Sector Security in order to fully reclaim the Satellite?"

"But that doesn't include hurting innocent people Kiryu!"

That only resulted in Kiryu bending Cecelia's arm further behind her back, causing her to wince.

"She's not innocent," said Kiryu, "She's a part of Sector Security! You see what they do to us Yusei! They're the ones that make us live in poverty! I told you, the only way for us to truly take back Satellite is to get rid of the people that keep us here!"

Cecelia was outraged. No one was going to talk like that about the profession her parents loved. Not knowing exactly how to take her anger out, she kicked Kiryu in the shin, causing him to let go of her arm.

"Don't talk about Security like that," she muttered angrily.

"What are you going to do about it?" asked Kiryu, "You can't exactly tell them anything right now."

"Of course I..." Cecelia trailed off as she tried to grab her communicator, only to see that it wasn't on her hip. Instead, it was in Kiryu's hand. Cecelia glared at him and looked at Yusei.

"You're friends with this guy?"

"Well..."

Cecelia sighed and looked back at Kiryu.

"Alright, now what?" asked Cecelia, "You have me here, yeah? How does that help you?"

Kiryu looked like he was going to say something else, but was interrupted by someone outside.

"Team Satisfaction!" yelled Jamie, "You're surrounded! We want your leader to come out quietly!"

Yusei then darted out of the building and walked to meet Jamie, and some of the other guards. Cecelia turned to Kiryu.

"You want Yusei to step in for you?" she asked in disbelief.

"What's he doing?" asked Kiryu angrily, "He's trying to turn me in, isn't he?!"

Kiryu then ran out and tackled Yusei. Cecelia cringed, worried for the misunderstanding. She also then ran out of the building, trying to assist in breaking the two apart.

"I will never forgive you Yusei!" yelled Kiryu as he was pulled into the van, "You bastard!"

Cecelia cringed and placed her hand on Yusei's shoulder.

"I'm sorry Yusei," she said, "But he deserved it. What he was doing isn't right."

Yusei nodded.

"I know."

Cecelia looked at the truck leaving, and suddenly an image appeared in her mind.

It looked like Kiryu, but older, and his entire appearance had changed drastically. The whites of his eyes had turned black, and he had marks that looked like he had been in the Facility, but they were not the normal color. They were some shade of magenta, almost like the color of a bruise. Kiryu was wearing a black jacket with blue markings over a red shirt that revealed his midriff. His pants were also black with the same blue markings from before, held up by a white belt. He also had a helmet in his hands, and a duel runner at his side.

Cecelia took a knee, clutching her head. What exactly was she seeing? It made no sense. Facility marks were not that color, and how could the whites of his eyes turn black. The image gave her an evil vibe, but she didn't even know if it was true or not.

"Cecelia!"

Cecelia looked up to see Yusei and Zen staring at her in worry.

"Yusei," said Cecelia, "Does Kiryu have a duel runner?"

The raven haired boy looked at her in shock.

"Cecelia," he said, "We're in the Satellite; no one rides duel runners."

"Kid," said Zen in a worried tone, "What's this about?"

"Nothing," said Cecelia, shaking her head, "Just forget it; it was a crazy idea."

She then looked at them and laughed.

"I think I just need some sleep."

* * *

 **DONTWORRYIMNOTDEADIMALIVE! Well, if you even cared about that =w=**

 **Yes, it's been three weeks, and yes, I'm sorry I haven't updated. It was crazy with all the work I was getting, and I had to check things about colleges and universities and scholarships, and way too many things to keep track of. Goodness, it was terrible.**

 **Although I am back with this chapter, I am unfortunately going to have to go on a quick hiatus until around the second week of April. I kind of gave up watching anime and such (YouTube and Netflix and video games included) for Lent, so I can't really go on with the rest of the story until Easter.**

 **However! There is some good news in this: we're going to start with the show next chapter! It won't start exactly at the beginning, but it will be near that time! So look forward to that when Crimson Symphony gets back! It will probably open up with a duel, since I haven't written one of those in forever.**

 **So never fear! I will be back and better than ever (in April!)!**

 **Finally, as always, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and I apologize for its tardiness and the slight hiatus coming up! Don't forget to R &R! See you soon!**


	12. Catching up

"Hey Cecelia," said Himika, catching up with the brunette as she passed by Duel Academia, "Let's have another duel!"

Cecelia turned to look at Himika.

"All right," she said, "I haven't dueled in a while."

"Yes! Come on, let's go! There's also a new turbo dueling track!"

"Wait," said Cecelia, "So you're a Turbo Duelist?"

"I wish," said Himika, "I just thought that might rope you in. Was I right?"

Cecelia sighed and said, "Yeah."

The two got to the field to duel, and both readied their duel disks.

"DUEL!"

* * *

"Since I let you go first last time," said Himika, "This time I'll go! Draw!"

 **Himika 4000; Cecelia 4000**

"I'll first summon Flame Sprite **(Lv 1: ATK 100 DEF 100)** in attack mode. Since I can't attack on my first turn, I'll just set a facedown and end my turn."

Flame Sprite was just a little flame with a small body that floated in the air.

 **Himika 4000; Cecelia 4000**

"Then it's my turn!" said Cecelia, "I draw! And I'll summon Symphony Phoenix **(Lv 3 Tuner: ATK 800 DEF 400)** in attack mode!"

Symphony Phoenix was a flaming bird with feathers on its head that pointed up, creating a music note shape.

"Now I play the spell Call to Play! This lets me special summon a monster to the field in attack mode by sacrificing 100 lifepoints! I summon Symphony Djun **(Lv 2: ATK 300 DEF 200)**!"

 **Cecelia: 3900**

The white hamster showed up on the field next to Symphony Phoenix.

"Now I'll have Symphony Phoenix tune Symphony Djun! A hidden song from where you least expect it! A silent yet beautiful sound! Synchro Summon! Symphony Ninja **(Lv 5 Synchro: ATK 1600 DEF 400)**!"

Symphony Ninja was a girl wearing all black with a scarf that had white music notes on it near the ends, and a mask that only covered half of her face. She has black hair with a few white streaks. There were also many shuriken on her hips to attack with.

"Now I activate her ability," said Cecelia, "Once I summon her, she can attack you directly for 500 points of damage. Go! Silent Shot!"

Symphony Ninja grabbed five of her shuriken and threw them at Himika.

 **Himika: 3500**

"And now I'll have her attack Flame Sprite! Once again Symphony Ninja! Go and attack!"

"I activate my facedown!" shouted Himika, "Fire Shield! If I equip this to my monster when it is going to be destroyed, I can protect my monster for three turns at the cost of 100 lifepoints. It's cute that you thought you were going to cause that much damage to me that quickly."

 **Himika: 3400**

"Then I set one facedown and end my turn."

 **Himika 3400; Cecelia 3900**

"Draw!" said Himika, "And I summon Flame Dragon **(Lv 4 Tuner: ATK 1000 DEF 800)** in attack mode!"

Flame Dragon is a small dragon with red scaled and a few spikes. It is smaller and has a flame on its tail, as well as it's wrists, ankles, and wings.

"Now I tune Flame Dragon to Flame Sprite! Burning bright under the light of the full moon! Synchro Summon! Flame Wolf **(Lv 5 Synchro: ATK 1500 DEF 1000)**!"

Flame Wolf is a wolf with red fur and flames near its paws.

"Now I play the spell Burning Flame!" said Himika, "This spell lights the fire inside of my monsters and raises the attack points by every spell and trap card on the field multiplied by 100! Since there's only one facedown, Flame Wolf gets 100 attack points."

 **Flame Wolf: 1600**

"Flame Wolf, attack Symphony Ninja! Howling Flame!"

"Not so fast!" said Cecelia, "I activate my trap, Slow Tempo! When a monster attacks, it gets switched into defense mode, and its defense points are turned into damage."

 **Himika: 2400**

"Fine, I end my turn."

 **Himika 2400; Cecelia 3900**

"Then I'm up," said Cecelia, "Draw! And first, I activate the spell Uniting Harmonies! This lets me take one of your monsters, and switch it over to my side in attack mode. So come on over Flame Wolf!"

The red wolf then switched over to Cecelia's side and growled at Himika.

"No! Flame Wolf!"

"Oh yes," said Cecelia, "So I think I'll have Flame Wolf attack you directly, since you have no one else to protect you."

 **Himika: 800**

"And now, Symphony Ninja attacks!"

 **Himika: 800**

 **Winner: Cecelia**

* * *

"Damn Cecelia," said Himika, "No matter how many times I try, I just can't beat you. And you've never shown me your ace monster either. However, you've improved a lot these past few years."

"Yeah," said the eighteen year old, "But so have you."

"Hehe thanks," said Himika, "But seriously, why won't you show me your ace monster?"

"Eh, it never felt like the right time."

Himika pouted.

"Come on," she said with a pout, "Do you think I'm not that much of a challenge for you?"

"Anyway," said Cecelia, not wanting to get into that conversation, "I'll see you later. I have to go check on something."

"And what would that be?"

Cecelia smirked and stayed silent.

"Hey!" said Himika grabbing onto Cecelia's arm, "I'm coming with you! You're not keeping anything from me!"

Cecelia sighed.

"Fine, come on."

Cecelia led Himika to a garage not too far from Duel Academia. They entered the garage and saw a man with green hair working on a duel runner. He had a little bit of scruff, some goggles on his head, and some grease on his face. He was also wearing some bulky work gloves. He heard the door open and turned around.

"Hey Cecelia," he said smiling, "Where've you been?"

"Hi Harvey," said Cecelia, "Sorry for the wait."

"We were dueling," said Himika, "I'm Himika, by the way."

"Well it's nice to meet you Himika."

"So Cecelia," said Himika, "Why are you here?"

"She's here to pick this up," said Harvey, "Brand new and just built. Cecelia, mind helping me out here a little bit?"

"Mhm."

She walked over to Harvey and revved the duel runner while Harvey checked the computer. After a few more minutes, he stepped back from the computer and smiled.

"Alright, it's done!" he said proudly. Cecelia smiled and nodded in approval. Her duel runner was black with lilac accents here and there. It raised up and then pointed out, creating a shape that looked like an eighth note, which was highlighted as a lighter black. Overall, it looked mostly like a sport motorcycle.

"That's actually really cool!" exclaimed Himika.

"Yeah, thanks Harvey," said Cecelia.

"No problem!" said Harvey, "Now keep her safe and please, don't crash."

Cecelia nodded and wheeled her new duel runner out of the garage. She revved the engine and was about to speed off, but Harvey stopped her.

"Wait! Did you forget you need a license for that?!"

"Don't worry; I already got it."

"How?" asked Himika.

"I used my dad's duel runner," responded Cecelia, like it was the simplest thing in the world. She then sped off. Her parents told her that Director Goodwin wanted to see her for something.

"Hey," said Cecelia, walking into the living room where her parents were waiting.

"Hey pumpkin," said Jamie, "Are you ready?"

"You've been practicing everyday," asked Faye, "Right?"

" _Si_ ," responded Cecelia, "Don't worry. Flute and piano. But why?"

"Then good luck," said Faye, "Director Goodwin wants to see you about your music."

Cecelia nodded, then left with her flute and rode her duel runner to the building where the Director's office was. She parked her duel runner and entered the building. It was the Sector Security building.

Cecelia walked in, and the receptionist smiled.

"Hello, how may I help you? Oh Cecelia! I was told you would be coming here. The Director's office is on the top floor. Good luck!"

"Thanks."

Cecelia then walked to the elevator, took it to the top floor, and walked into the Director's office.

"Director Goodwin?" she asked, "You wanted to see me?"

"Ah Cecelia," said the director, "I am glad you could make it. I wanted to ask you if you wanted to play music for the new duel king."

"Of course," said Cecelia. She hadn't heard the announcement, but that was because she had been really busy. His name started with J or something.

"So you wanted to hear some music?" asked Cecelia.

"Exactly," said Goodwin, "So would you mind?"

"Of course."

Cecelia took her flute out and started playing a song. She finished, and Goodwin started clapping.

"Very nice Miss Cecelia," he said, "And now for the piano?"

Cecelia nodded and sat at the piano that Goodwin had brought into the office. It would soon be moved into the king's penthouse.

Cecelia played another song, and when she finished, Goodwin smiled.

"Again, very nice," said Goodwin, "I will give you the address to the king's penthouse, and you will meet me there tonight."

Cecelia nodded and left the building. She returned to her house, and was met by her parents' looks of anticipation.

"So?" asked Jamie, "How did it go?"

"He wants me to come to the king's penthouse tonight for my first night," said Cecelia showing them the paper with the address.

"Congratulations!" said Faye, "We're so proud of you! That king is going to love your music."

"And who knows," said Jamie, "You might beat him someday."

Cecelia chuckled.

"Yeah," she said, "Maybe."

Soon, it was nighttime, and Cecelia headed off to the address Goodwin gave her. She entered the penthouse and was met by a woman with blue hair. She also worked with Sector Security. Her name was Mikage.

"Hey Cecelia, Mr. Atlas is waiting for you. For the music, I mean."

Cecelia nodded and walked inside. There was a man sitting on a couch and a black grand piano was behind him. The blond got up from the couch. He was wearing an all white outfit with hints of purple.

"It's about time," he said, "Why the hell did you take so long?"

He turned around and his eyes widened.

"Cecelia?!" he said, "You're the musician?"

"Jack?" asked a shocked Cecelia, "How did you get to the city?"

Jack huffed and looked away.

"Well, you came here to play, so just play already."

Cecelia smiled. Jack was always like this, wasn't he?

After Cecelia was done playing for the night, she said goodbye to Jack and went home. The next night, she and her parents were called to the Duel Stadium. Cecelia didn't wear her junior uniform, instead, she wore a black high neck jacket, a lilac shirt, jeans, and black boots. She still wore the same black gloves that ended right at her wrists as well as a black choker necklace, and a golden chain with a pearl pendant. She also kept the bandana her father gave her, and had it tied around one of the belt loops of her jeans. Basically, her normal outfit to go out and do her everyday things.

The reason she didn't wear the uniform? A year before, she had told her parents that she was not planning to follow in their footsteps in Sector Security. However, that was a story for another time. That didn't stop her from helping them out. She thought it was fun.

Cecelia sped ahead of her parents, and as they were headed to the Duel Stadium, there was a bright light with a red dragon spinning around. The lights in the entire city went out.

Cecelia's head throbbed, and she struggled to maintain control of her duel runner. She opened her eyes, and they glowed yellow, with the shadow of a dragon's eyes over them. She saw two visions at once — where she was going, and a duel that was going on. The two people had glowing marks on their arms. The two people dueling were Yusei and Jack? So how did Yusei get to the city? Was he even allowed to be there? Is that why she had been called with her parents? To stop this duel?

Cecelia sped ahead of her parents, who had stopped because of the lack of light. She was getting faster by the second. The red dragon that was flying around flew toward her and it looked like Cecelia's body absorbed it. It knocked her off of her duel runner, right in front of the two duel runners that had stopped. She rolled on the pavement, and the momentum carried her a few feet further. Her duel runner was wrecked, and her body didn't look too much better. She was covered in scratches, and she felt nauseous.

She knew that damage taken on turbo duels could result in a crash, but she had never crashed before. Even when she dueled using her dad's duel runner.

Jack and Yusei's arms were glowing red with different marks. Both of the duelists were holding their arms and looking at each other. Their arms stopped glowing, and Yusei's disappeared, while Jack's stayed. They then noticed Cecelia on the ground.

"Cecelia!" yelled Jack and Yusei as they ran over to her. Lights flashed on in the stadium. Jamie and Faye ran over to the figure of their daughter.

"What happened here?!" questioned Faye with a yell, "How did this happen?!"

"If we knew, don't you think we would have told you?" said Jack.

"Alright, break it up," said Jamie, "Yusei Fudo, this is Neo Domino City Security. As you know, Satellite citizens are not allowed into Neo Domino City without permission. By order of the Public Maintenance Department, you are under arrest."

* * *

 **I welcome you...to the end...of my brief hiatus! I'm back and Lent is over, so I can get back to all my normal things, mainly watching shows and stuff on my iPad, and video games! For the love of everything wonderful I can play video games again!**

 **Happy late Easter you guys! I know I was slightly late with this chapter, the reason being my parents and I went on a cruise and I just forgot to post this chapter before I lost internet access. So a new chapter is coming out very soon (as in tomorrow), hope you're ready for that!**

 **Anyways, end of the chapter! We did reach the show, finally. Even though it was at the end. But Cecelia finally has a duel runner, and everything is all good! And did you guys like her updated look? I might mention it now and again, just in case you guys forget, because I know I always forget details about characters like that. I don't really know why, I just do.**

 **So yes! End of the chapter, and I will update again soon. See you next Sunday, and don't forget to R &R!**


	13. Time For Answers

***Dream***

 _Cecelia looked around her. She was in some kind of limbo area. There wasn't anyone — or thing — in sight. She wanted to move or call out, but quickly found out that she couldn't do either._

 _Suddenly, there was a bright flash of light, and a red dragon emerged from it. Cecelia was awestruck. It wasn't everyday, or rather, every night that something like this could be witnessed._

 _"Atreyuuuuuuu!"_

 _Cecelia looked confused. Did that huge dragon just say that?_

 _She attempted to speak again, and this time, found that she had the ability to do so._

 _"Who are you?" she shouted._

 _"I am the Crimson Dragon."_

 _Cecelia looked at the dragon's face, and saw that it was the same one from Yusei and Jack's duel. The one that charged her, and made her fall off her duel runner. Why was it in her dream? Wasn't it just a regular duel monster or something? And what happened after she wiped out? Where was her body now?_

 _"Do not worry," said the Crimson Dragon, "I am not a duel monster. And your body is safe."_

 _"Then what..."_

 _"The duel last night awoke me," said the Crimson Dragon, "I have been slumbering for the last five thousand years, and have existed since the People of the Stars. And now I have found my vessel again. Although I apologize that I have injured you. I did not expect that outcome. I will do my best to fix it."_

 _"I'm confused," said Cecelia, "A vessel? And how can you fix my injuries?"_

 _"Yes," replied the Crimson Dragon, "You have always had a piece of me inside of you, but now I flow freely inside of you. And I'm a dragon with awesome power; just wait and see — your injuries will soon be a thing of the past. I don't have much time left; you will be waking up soon. However, what I can immediately tell you is that you will see me again, and I would stay close to those who call themselves Signers."_

 _"What? Hey wait, you haven't explained everything! Hey!"_

* * *

Cecelia woke up with a start and cringed from pain. The Crimson Dragon? What was that? Why did she see it, and why did it avoid her question?

 _Stupid dragon_ , she thought. She immediately got a headache and looked around. What was that all about?

She looked at her surroundings. She was in a white room, with bandages covering her body. She ached all over, and felt like she had been run over by a truck. She still felt nauseous, and her headache had worsened substantially. There was also a dull beeping noise in the background.

Cecelia tried to get up, but there was a pain in her stomach that made her stop. She saw a bucket next to her bed and immediately threw up in it.

 _What the hell happened? Did the Crimson Dragon really mess me up that badly? And I thought he was going to quickly fix my injuries._

The noise of Cecelia throwing up prompted a nurse to walk in.

"Looks like you're finally up," she said, "How do you feel?"

"Like a million bucks," said Cecelia with a slight wince, "I couldn't feel better!"

The nurse smiled.

"Ah I see," she said, "Your sarcasm means you are getting better. Well, get some rest today. I think some people will be over to see you soon."

Cecelia nodded and sighed. The nurse then left the room, leaving Cecelia to her own thoughts. Even though she felt terrible, she needed to talk to Jack about how he got to the city. And she needed to find out if he knew anything about the Crimson Dragon.

Cecelia decided to fight through the pain and get dressed. She needed to get answers no matter what. She wore her normal clothes and exited the hospital building. Cecelia got outside and then groaned. She forgot that she didn't have her duel runner with her. It was wrecked. She would have to check with Harvey later.

She would just have to walk to the King's penthouse.

After a long and painful walk, Cecelia arrived. She entered the building, and went to where Jack was. She wanted to say that she could just play the piano, but she didn't think that was going to happen.

Cecelia knocked on the door and entered. Jack looked like he had just finished getting ready, and Mikage was trailing behind him, trying to stop him from moving around.

"Jack," said Cecelia, "I need to ask you something."

"Not now," he responded, "Come back later."

"Wait, where are you going?! Hey! I have questions about last night!"

"I need to talk to Goodwin," he said, "But now that I think about it... Cecelia, come with me."

Cecelia slowly nodded and followed Jack outside.

 _He didn't have to be so demanding. What's his problem?_

Cecelia and Jack left the room and went to see Goodwin. They needed some answers about this whole Crimson Dragon thing.

Cecelia followed Jack with a limp. He looked back behind him, and noticed the limp that she was trying extremely hard to hide. He huffed and kept walking, with Mikage shouting at them both to stop.

"Master Atlas! Cecelia!"

Jack and Cecelia walked through the door with Mikage behind them.

"I'm sorry, Director."

Jack looked at the image that was displaying his duel with Yusel.

"What is this? Why are you watching this?!"

"Please calm down," said Goodwin as he got up and walked around his desk, "This is the Public Maintenance Department. We protect the peace in Neo Domino City. It is our duty to learn about strange events that occur in the city. Information connected to the People of the Stars is especially important."

"People of the Stars?" questioned Cecelia, remembering the conversation she had with the Crimson Dragon, "You know about them?"

Jack looked between them, and Goodwin looked at Cecelia with a slightly shocked expression.

"Both of you know something!" he said, "When the Crimson Dragon appeared, I felt a pain on this mark!"

Jack then rolled up his sleeve showing off his mark. Cecelia looked at the mark.

"The wings of the Crimson Dragon," she muttered, "You're a Signer!"

All who were in the room looked at Cecelia in shock.

"And how would you know about that?" asked Goodwin.

"Signers are legendary," responded Cecelia. _Plus the Crimson Dragon told me a thing or two._

Goodwin turned to Jack again.

"As Cecelia said, you are a Signer. That is what the legend says. You're a person who has the mark of the dragon."

Everyone else in the room bowed to Jack. Well, all of them except Cecelia.

 _I have to stay close to him_ , she thought, _That's what the Crimson Dragon told me._

"Signer?" asked Jack.

"You are the chosen one," said Goodwin, "You are a person of the stars."

"But there isn't just one," said Cecelia, "There are more than one Signer."

"Yusei also had the mark!" said Jack, "It was linked to my mark!"

"What?" asked Goodwin, "That person from Satellite?"

"You didn't see it?" asked Jack. Cecelia got a big headache as she remembered the events of the previous night. Goodwin bowed to Jack in apology.

"Unfortunately, the visuals were cut due to the power outage.

"Both Yusei and Jack's arms were glowing during the duel," said Cecelia with a hand on her head.

"I saw it!" said Jack, "Yusei's arm also had the mark! But he didn't have it two years ago!"

Jack looked behind him.

"Stop!" he yelled, "Pause the monitor! Rewind!"

The image was rewinded until it stopped on Yusei's face. His eyes were glowing red. There was also a card next to him.

"Right here!" he said, "Enlarge the image right here."

"Of course," said Akutsu. He then zoomed in on the card.

"This is...Meteor Stream!" exclaimed Jack in shock.

"I see," said Yeager, "Meteor Stream. King, what you activated right before was..."

Before Yusei had activated the trap Meteor Stream, Jack had activated the spell End of the Storm.

"End of the Storm destroys all monsters on the field. For every destroyed monster, the player takes 300 points of damage."

"That's right!" said Jack, "That was a strategy to get Stardust back! He takes damage, and then it was supposed to return to my field after he released it! But at the very end, he was going to use Meteor Stream."

"When a released monster resurrects, that card deals 1000 points of damage," said Yeager, "That means..."

"I had 900 lifepoints," said Jack in realization, "If I took 1000 points of damage... I lost to him! I..."

Jack looked down and clenched his fists. Goodwin walked over and patted Jack's hands.

"Don't worry about it," he said, "No one knows what happened last night."

Jack pushed his hands away and shouted, "But I know! The King knows! There's no way I can forget this duel! Where is he? Where is he right now?"

Goodwin took a few steps away from him.

"It's regular policy to quarantine people who arrive from Satellite," he said, "He is no exception. He would be at the Facility by now."

"The Facility?!" exclaimed Cecelia.

* * *

 **Oh my gosh, I'm sorry, I had to with the Crimson Dragon. Pleeeeeaaaaase tell me you guys got the reference. I love BBT Abridged so much, it's just beautiful. But that was the only time I'm doing it. Seriously, it won't happen again.**

 **But anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and we'll get to the point of the Fortune Cup pretty soon. Then this will really pick up. So get ready for that.**

 **I don't have anything else to say, so I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and don't forget to R &R!**


	14. Vessel of the Crimson Dragon

"I'm going to meet him," said Jack as he started to walk out. Cecelia followed him. She wanted to talk to Yusei as well.

"You can't," said Goodwin, "Think about your role as the King."

"Then I'll go," said Cecelia.

"I could do that," said Goodwin, "But don't you want to know about the people of the stars and Signers? Cecelia, if you leave now, I cannot guarantee that you will get this opportunity again."

 _I could always ask the Crimson Dragon,_ thought Cecelia, _But he did say to stay close to the Signers. I know Yusei is one along with Jack, but Goodwin does have more information here._

"Fine," muttered Cecelia.

"And Jack," said Goodwin, "Don't you want to know who you truly are?"

Jack glanced over his shoulder to look at Goodwin.

"Tch."

Cecelia and Jack followed Goodwin outside, towards another building. Jack then started walking in front of Goodwin, while Cecelia remained in the back. She didn't really know where they were going after all. Goodwin's phone started ringing, and he answered. He waited for a few moments, listening to the person on the other line, and when the person was done talking, he said, "Ok, I understand."

He put his phone away and then spoke again.

"The man from Satellite has started dueling at the Facility," he told them.

 _I hope Yusei wins,_ thought Cecelia, _Even though he's not supposed to have any cards with him. Wait, he's not supposed to have cards! How is he dueling?_

Cecelia sighed, deciding she would just let it go for now. She came to the conclusion that the Satellites brought to the Facility enough times knew how to sneak in their decks. But this was the first time Yusei was going to the Facility! Did that mean he was borrowing someone's deck. Cecelia really had to look into this.

Jack and Goodwin switched places once it was time to enter the building. Since the door only opened to Goodwin, Cecelia assumed that they were going to his house.

"King, I'm taking you to a room that you have never seen before," said Goodwin, "Cecelia you will benefit in coming here as well."

They walked down the hallway and made a few turns. Goodwin then led them to an elevator. They entered, leading Goodwin to say, "I'll give you two a glimpse of the true nature of the Public Maintenance Department."

"I think I know enough about that," scoffed Cecelia.

"You only know surface information," said Goodwin, "Most Security officers either do not talk much about it, or do not know anything about it. It really isn't something that comes up in everyday conversation."

Cecelia pouted and watched Goodwin press some buttons. The doors closed, and Goodwin scanned his fingerprint, and then his eye. After that was done, the elevator started descending. A few minutes later, the elevator stopped, and the doors opened. The hallway before them was lit with torches on the sides. Goodwin walked out first, Jack followed, and Cecelia was last. They approached a set of doors that had a lot of different patterns on it. It reminded Cecelia of the Crimson Dragon.

Cecelia's head throbbed, causing her to bring her hand up to her head.

 _It seems like I get a headache whenever I think of him,_ she thought, _Does that mean the Crimson Dragon's trying to communicate with me?_

The doors slid open, and they entered the room. When they were inside, Cecelia felt a wave wash over her after the red glow appeared. She then realized that her body was feeling a bit better. Her limp was virtually gone, and the nauseous feeling she had was fading away quickly.

The room trembled as the door closed. Cecelia and Jack looked behind them. Cecelia then quickly turned back around to see what was going on.

"Please calm yourself and look forward," Goodwin said to Jack. There was an altar in front of them that seemed to go on forever behind a gateway that was a post and lintel. There was what looked like a stone plaque with a carving of the Crimson Dragon on the gateway. This was the same one that was on the ground around them.

Jack saw it, and his eyes widened in shock. He then pulled back his sleeve to look at his mark.

"Have you noticed it?" asked Goodwin, "King, the mark you have on your arm symbolizes —"

"— the wings of the Crimson Dragon," interrupted Cecelia. Goodwin shot a slight glare her way.

"Crimson Dragon..." repeated Jack.

"Yes," said Goodwin, "The Crimson Dragon you saw at Duel Stadium, King."

Jack looked at him, and then at Cecelia.

"You mean the one that caused Cecelia to crash?" he asked.

Cecelia nodded, "Exactly."

"What did you say?" asked Goodwin, "How did it cause you to crash?"

"It flew at me and I lost my balance," replied Cecelia. Goodwin looked intrigued.

 _The Crimson Dragon never did anything like that during one of our tests_ , he thought, _Could this girl be the...?!_

"Neo Domino City's Public Maintenance Department is just our current incarnation," said Goodwin, "We have inherited the power of the people of the stars who bring peace to the world. That name is Iliaster."

Goodwin turned to face Cecelia and Jack.

"Iliaster?" questioned Jack.

"The word means 'the first matter of all things.' Government, economy, military, everything that controls the world is run by the people who swear allegiance to Iliaster. I, Rex Goodwin, am the 360th star guardian."

 _The Crimson Dragon didn't tell me anything about this,_ thought Cecelia, _I should ask him about that tonight..._

They started walking toward the post and lintel structure. There were many smaller carvings

"Iliaster," said Goodwin, "It originated 3,000 years ago in the Andes Mountains of South America. King and Cecelia, let me lead you to the pre-Inca civilization."

Goodwin then lifted his hand, and the room became pure white. After that, it looked like they were on the clouds. A temple then started coming toward them. It was the same temple that they had seen in the room, only without the gate.

"In the past, the people of the stars built the giant stone civilization known as the temple of heaven. They revered the dragon star, which was said to govern all of creation, as their god. All the wisdom held by the stars was handed down to the ruler, the star dragon king. Through the star dragon king, the people were led by the starts, and they built a unique society and civilization."

Fire lit on the torches around the temple.

"However, as it happens quite often, evil wars threatened the peace. When that happened, the star dragon king prayed to the dragon star for salvation," Goodwin raised his arms, "And the dragon star answered."

Cecelia's eyes started glowing with the light of the Crimson Dragon's eyes faintly over them.

"The Crimson Dragon," she said, "Which was considered the incarnation of god, came down and sealed evil into the ground."

"Into the ground?" asked Jack, "Cecelia, how do you know this?"

"Yes Miss Briceño," said Goodwin, "How do you know this?"

Cecelia nodded, ignoring them.

"Yes," she responded, "In the Nazca Lines."

The image around them then changed to show it like they were standing in the air, looking down at the lines.

"The Nazca Lines?" asked Jack.

"The evil was sealed into the ground," answered Goodwin, "but like rainwater seeping underground over time, it has seeped all over the world. Look at the current world. War, poverty, incurable illness, economic chaos. There is no peace from the era of the people of the stars. The only utopia is Neo Domino City."

The area under them turned into a nighttime view of Neo Domino City. Lights shone brightly, and Cecelia could almost hear the bustling of the city.

"You must understand by now. In the near future, the evil god sealed in Nazca will resurrect. It will feed on the evil in people's hearts."

While Goodwin was talking, Cecelia's eyes started glowing just a little brighter. She was no longer with Jack and Goodwin. Instead, she was back in the streets of Neo Domino. There was a big building, and on top, there were two huge animal looking creatures. They overlapped, one on top of the other. One was black and green, and the other was black and orange. She just couldn't tell what animals they were. But one thing that was clear, was purple fire on the ground. It seemed to be making some sort of shape, but there was no way to get to higher ground to see what it looked like.

The scenery became all black. There was only one thing Cecelia could see. It looked like a heart of sorts, but definitely not a human heart. It had lines all over it, and many purple lights were flying towards it. Were the lights the evil Goodwin was talking about? Or something else?

Cecelia was jolted out of the vision the moment she hit the ground. She put her hands on her head; it was throbbing like crazy. The glow of the Crimson Dragon's eyes disappeared, but it didn't do anything to lessen her migraine.

 _And after I started to feel better too._

"Cecelia, what's wrong?" Jack's voice was full of worry. Cecelia looked up at him.

"I'm…I'm fine. Don't worry." She got up and smiled at Jack. She then glanced at Goodwin, and noticed that he had an air of realization about him.

"Director?"

Goodwin started walking to another area. It was then that Cecelia realized they were back in the room they entered. What else had she missed? She had a lot to ask the Crimson Dragon that night. Either way, she followed Goodwin and Jack until they stopped at a panel that almost had the style of Egyptian paintings.

On the panel, there were five different figures, each with a glowing arm. They all had dragons behind them. There was also a sixth figure. It was wearing a helmet that kind of looked like the Crimson Dragon's head and robes that had the Crimson Dragon's eyes on them. This sixth figure was below the other five, with its arms raised — almost as if it was giving the others power. Goodwin pointed to this sixth figure.

"These are the first five Signers. And this —" he pointed to the sixth figure, "— is the Vessel."

"The Vessel?" inquired Cecelia.

"Yes. The Vessel of the Crimson Dragon. The warrior blessed with this role harnesses part of the Crimson Dragon itself, but only after coming in contact with it. The Crimson Dragon becomes a part of them, and them a part of it. The Vessel is crucial in driving away the evil that will soon appear before the Signers. Without them, things could be…disastrous. You, Miss Briceño, are this Vessel."

Words escaped her. Cecelia knew something was going on, but she didn't really know it was that intense. She just thought she was starting to go a little crazy, not that her destiny was to help drive away some evil.

"You both need to get some rest," said Goodwin, "We'll stop here."

"What evil are you talking about?" asked Jack, "You have to explain that."

The ringing of a phone interrupted them. Goodwin picked it up and listened to the other end for a while. After the other person was done talking, Goodwin said, "Okay, I will be there soon."

He turned back to Jack and Cecelia and bowed.

"My apologies, but I must leave. King, you will just have to wait." Jack didn't seem too happy about that, but seemed to accept it. If Goodwin had to leave, then he had to leave.

"Wait."

"Yes, Miss Briceño?"

"What about Yusei? Earlier you said you could let me in to see him. Is that still possible?"

After a few moments, Goodwin answered her. "Yes, you should still be able to meet him. I will send word to the Facility that you will be coming, but you should come up with a better reason than just needing to speak to Yusei. That will not go over too well with Chief Takasu."

Cecelia nodded and left the building. She had some words for Yusei.

* * *

 **Oh my gosh I am so sorry that it's taken this long to update! I feel like a horrible author. I don't even have a reason. At first, I thought it was because of graduation and stuff, but that was two months ago! I had nothing to do after that! Ahhh I'm really sorry, I'm going to try and get back on my schedule again, and try to get another chapter out tomorrow.**

 **But there's some good news to this (aside from all the wallowing in despair that I just did…)! Chapters are going to be a bit longer, so you have that to look forward to! I always like reading chapters that are a little on the long side, so I thought I should do that for my dear readers.**

 **Some things are also going to be just a little bit hectic for me in three weeks, so I apologize in advance if a big long gap like this one happens again. I'm going to be moving into my dorm room, and I'll be starting band camp too! It will be my first time in a marching band, so I really hope I'm not in over my head here…hehe. I'll be playing the flute, and my ears are ready for torture! I think.**

 **I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter; I know it's been a long time coming. Please don't forget to R &R!**


	15. Pit Stop

**Ahhhh I keep forgetting the disclaimer, but I think you guys get the gist. I don't own** ** _Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's,_ or anything like that. I've already said what I own and what I don't in other chapters, so enjoy!**

* * *

Cecelia left the building, and remembered that her duel runner was still wrecked. Before she went to the Facility, she needed to see her duel runner. She didn't even know exactly where it was. Maybe it was dropped off at Harvey's already?

That decided her destination. Cecelia started walking towards Harvey's garage. She scratched her arms, and noticed the bandages were still there.

She immediately stopped. She left the hospital without warning, and the nurse did tell her that there was going to be some people coming over to see her. She was so focused on getting answers that she didn't even think about what she was doing. What if her parents and Zen came in during the time she was gone? Or Harvey and Himika?

An involuntary shiver left her. That wouldn't bode well for her, and it made her feel bad. She knew her mother would be furious, but she also knew that the anger would be from worry. And Himika would be dying to know what happened.

When she thought about it, how come it was easy for her to leave the hospital? She hadn't even been discharged. Maybe her destination wasn't decided after all. It would be a better idea to stop there first. Even though she felt better after going into that room with Goodwin and Jack, she didn't know if she hurt herself some other way. And how the hell was she able to feel better after feeling that light from the Crimson Dragon? It didn't make sense, and her mind was still swirling with all the information she received from Goodwin.

She was the Vessel of the Crimson Dragon, and had to help fight off some evil. It felt like something made up, and not like real life. How was the Vessel even decided? Goodwin said that she had part of the Crimson Dragon inside of her, but how long was it like that? Had it always been like that, or was it something that happened just recently?

Cecelia had so many questions, and not nearly enough answers. She did get some general information from Goodwin, but not a lot on being the Vessel, or why she was picked as the Vessel.

 _Could it be something as simple as having a birthmark?_ Cecelia shook her head as she got rid of that thought. _No, that's stupid. It can't be that simple, because this is something that started five thousand years ago. What if I ask the Crimson Dragon?_

Cecelia's eyes widened. Having a stupid red dragon appear in her dreams didn't make any sense either. She normally _didn't_ dream, and the first one she had was after she crashed from the same red dragon flying into her. _That_ made sense. Either way, that dragon was her only completely reliable source of answers. And she wanted answers. Cecelia wanted them so badly, she ignored everything strange about the situation. Now that she had time to think, she realized how absurd it was. Who just listens to a dragon from their dreams and takes it seriously?

A sigh escaped the young adult. Nothing made sense. Magical dragons, people of stars, and Signers that summoned the magical dragon. That definitely happened in everyday life.

"Cecelia!" She was pulled out of her thoughts at the sound of her name. She looked up, and immediately recognized the pink hair.

"Zen." She waved and he grabbed her shoulders.

"What the hell is wrong with you?! You left the hospital and you weren't even discharged yet! Do you know how worried everyone is?"

"Don't worry, Zen. I'm fine. Really."

"You're not," replied Zen, crossing his arms, "You haven't even noticed how shallow you're breathing is."

Cecelia looked at him in confusion, and then felt a stronger pain in her chest. She took a deep breath in, but it hurt like hell. She squeezed her eyes shut and tears danced at her eyes.

"Urgh! You know what, I don't need this from you. Don't you think I'm going to get chewed out enough by my mom?"

Zen shivered and rubbed his arms. Faye wasn't fun to be around when she was mad. Her lectures were a mix of jabbing insults, and lessons. Sometimes she also added in some of her own experience, but whenever she did it was the same old story.

"Either way," he said, after taking a moment to recover, "Let's go."

"Go whe — hey! What are you doing? Let go of me!" Zen had grabbed Cecelia's hand and started dragging her in the direction of the hospital. She pulled her wrist out of his grip. Cecelia did decide that she was going to the hospital next, but she was going to make it there on her own. "What the hell, Zen? I can get there by myself!"

"And how do I know you're not going to bolt the second you see your mother?"

Cecelia gulped. Maybe it wasn't the best idea to go to the hospital first.

 _Why don't you just kill me now? Then my mom can dig me out of my grave and kill me again._

"I know that look," said Zen, "And you're not getting away that easy, kid. You're not in the condition to try and get away from me either, so don't try it."

He stepped closer to Cecelia, causing her to take a step back. Zen grabbed her shoulder and pulled her closer to him. Then he punched her abdomen. Cecelia coughed as pain shot through her, and her eyes started to close. She clutched Zen's arm.

"Zen…what are you…?"

"I'm sorry Cecelia," said Zen, "But I can't let you go anywhere else. The doctors don't know exactly how badly you're hurt, and you need to come back immediately. If this is the only way to do it, then so be it."

Black spots danced in her field of vision as Cecelia started to black out. All she remembered was Zen picking her up and carrying her bridal style towards the hospital.

* * *

Cecelia woke up to a white ceiling for the second time in two days, and her chest and stomach were killing her. Damn, Zen could really punch.

Glancing around, she noticed that she was still covered in some bandages, as well as some sort of hospital gown. Cecelia also saw a pink head of hair in the corner of the room. As well as the blond and dark brown hair she had seen her entire life.

Her parents were there, and Cecelia mentally groaned. She really didn't want to be yelled at by her mother right when she woke up. That really wasn't the best thing to be woken up by; it had happened to her before, and it was not pleasant. Even if it wasn't something she would like to hear right after waking up, Cecelia doubted she would really pay too much attention. Her mind was still a big pile of mush from everything earlier. She wanted to know so much more than what she did, and she didn't even have a dream when she was knocked out. It almost felt normal. Almost like her life before she saw Yusei and Jack again.

Apparently, the three people in the room heard her stirring, and stood up to crowd around her bed.

"Morning," Jamie said with a smile.

"How do you feel?" asked Faye. Cecelia looked at her mother in surprise. That wasn't what she was expecting. She was sure that her mother was going to start yelling at her.

"I'm fine."

"Look kid, I'm sorry. I just had to make sure that you came back here."

"It's okay. At least now I know how hard you can punch."

Zen winced at Cecelia's comment. He really didn't mean to punch her that hard, and it probably wasn't the best course of action. It looked like Cecelia wasn't going to let go of this for a while. He was trying to apologize again when the doctor walked in. He was wearing a white coat over a dark grey shirt with a blue tie and black slacks.

"You gave us quite the scare this morning," he said, "You know you're pretty lucky. You got pretty beat up, but the worst thing was a bruised rib along with a minor concussion. So, you should be able to leave later today. But only if you rest and don't strain yourself."

Faye and Jamie let out a sigh of relief. They had thought it was going to be a lot worse. The doctor nodded.

"I'll come back in a few hours. In the meantime, try to get some rest."

He left the room, and Faye immediately glared at Cecelia. The young adult shrunk back in the bed. Faye softened her glare and hugged her daughter. Cecelia hugged her mother back, and immediately felt bad. She had acted recklessly, which was out of character for her.

"I'm sorry," she muttered, causing her mother to squeeze her even more. Faye let go of Cecelia after feeling her daughter wince, and Jamie put his hand on Cecelia's head and messed up her brown hair.

"We have to go, but we'll be back later. Okay, pumpkin?" Cecelia nodded, and her parents left. Zen looked up at her guiltily, and then followed after Faye and Jamie. Cecelia was now on her own, left to her own thoughts.

She couldn't help but think of the Crimson Dragon again. Now that she had the time, she couldn't _not_ think about it. From what she understood, her life wasn't going to be the same ever again.

* * *

Two hours later, the doctor came back in.

"Good news, you can leave now," he said with a smile, "Just be careful, and try to take it easy. But, based on today, I have a feeling that's not going to happen. Just try to take as many deep breaths as you can. It'll be painful, but that will help you get better just a little faster. Your clothes are on the chair over there. Once you change, just let one of the nurses know and you can leave."

Cecelia got up out of the bed and thanked the doctor. He left the room, and Cecelia grabbed her clothes and went into the bathroom. She put on her black high neck jacket, white sleeveless shirt, and black jeans and boots. She put on her black gloves that ended right at her wrists. She put on her golden chain necklace that had a heart shaped pendant with a pearl in the middle, as well as her lilac colored choker necklace. Cecelia then fixed her hair just a bit and looked at herself in the mirror. Her wavy brown hair had grown out in the past three years, so now it reached the middle of her back. Her bangs were cut straight across at her eyebrows, and the rest of her hair was parted in the middle.

She left the bathroom and walked out into the hallway. She let a nurse know that she was leaving, and then walked out of the hospital. When she got out, the sun shone brightly in her face, giving her a headache. She put a hand up to shade her eyes and looked at the clear blue sky.

It wasn't that late into the afternoon yet, so she probably had enough time to go see Harvey. She didn't know if her duel runner was there or not — she didn't get a chance to ask her parents if it was dropped off there or not. The only way to find out was to head over there.

Then to Harvey's garage it was. She started walking towards Harvey's garage. She could only hope that her duel runner wasn't too messed up. She had only just gotten it.

Cecelia laughed at the irony. Harvey had told her not crash, and that was exactly what she did. But she wasn't planning on it or anything, Cecelia didn't want to crash. No one did. It was just a really unfortunate coincidence. Cecelia had never crashed when she rode her father's duel runner, so it wasn't really her fault that it happened with her own. That was going to be just a little difficult to explain to Harvey. Each duel runner he built was like his child.

Thirty minutes later, she reached Harvey's garage. It was wide open, and as Cecelia came closer, she could hear Harvey's complaints.

"I tell her one thing, and then she has to go and do the complete opposite. I can't believe you, Cecelia! Right after I make this beauty, you go and wreck it. I shouldn't even fix it just to spite you."

"I'm glad you think so highly of me Harvey," Cecelia said with a smirk, "And not even a visit in the hospital? You really shouldn't have."

"C-Cecelia!" Hervey scrambled to his feet, "I didn't know you were out there."

She walked past him and looked at her duel runner. There were a lot of scratches, and it was banged up pretty bad. There were a few dents on the sides, but the most were on the front. All the parts of the body were still together and intact, it just didn't look too pretty.

"You're lucky I like you Cecelia," said Harvey, "Or I would've already given up on this. You should've seen me when your parents brought it — I just about cried. One of the best duel runners I've built, and you go and wreck it in a day. It sure better not become a habit of yours." Harvey got up and stretched, "But how are ya feelin'?"

"They say the worst thing was a bruised rib, so that's going to be a new form of hell I haven't experienced yet. How long's it going to take to fix?"

"Damn, a bruised rib? That is going to be hell. On your duel runner, I'd say a week or two," replied Harvey, "I love this one's design, so I'm not going to let you wait on it too long. It's at the top of my list of repairs."

Cecelia sighed as she placed a hand on her duel runner. Harvey crossed his arms and looked at her.

"So how did this happen?"

"It's complicated." Cecelia wasn't sure how Harvey would react to her telling him about the Crimson Dragon. She didn't even completely understand it herself.

"Hey! You wrecked the duel runner I built, and you're not even going to tell me how it happened? Don't you think you owe me at least that much?"

"Harvey, it's just —"

A slam of Harvey's wrench interrupted her. His fist shook with frustration. He looked up and glared at the duelist.

"No excuses! Cecelia, if you don't tell me, I swear I will not fix this duel runner! No matter how much I like it!"

A pained sigh left Cecelia, and she stuck her hands in her pockets. She really wanted to get her duel runner fixed. Hell, she needed it to get around. What good were her speed spells if she couldn't turbo duel? That really didn't give her a choice, did it?

"Alright, alright. Don't yell."

Harvey smirked in victory and went back to working on Cecelia's duel runner. Cecelia grabbed a chair and sat down.

"You know how the power went out last night?" Harvey nodded. "Well, I was on my way to stop a duel in Duel Stadium, and this huge red dragon appeared in the sky."

"Okay, so there was a big duel monster," said Harvey, "Big whoop. I thought you were a duelist."

"Would you let me finish? That's what I thought too, but I'm telling you that was no duel monster. I could see what it saw, and when I got to the stadium, it flew at me and knocked me off of my duel runner."

Laughter erupted from Harvey. Cecelia looked at him and frowned.

"You seriously want me to believe that?" he asked between breaths, "Look, you don't have to tell me lies just to save face. We both know you just lost your balance and wiped out. I mean, it was a new duel runner so I guess I could understand."

"I didn't wipe out! Look, there really was a big red dragon! The Crimson Dragon!"

Harvey stopped what he was doing.

"The Crimson Dragon?"

Cecelia nodded, and Harvey crossed his arms. He looked serious.

"Are you sure about that?"

"Yeah, and how do you know about it?"

"I've heard about it in some legends when I grew up. It's an insanely powerful being. You sure that's what happened?"

Cecelia nodded again. "So you know about the Signers?"

"Yeah, but I gave up on learning anything anything else — everyone around me just said it was a dumb urban legend. Hey if you find anything else out about what happened, let me in on it. Think about it as what you owe me for fixing your duel runner."

"You seriously don't want any money for it?"

"Nah, information's a lot more valuable. Plus, you're one of my favorite customers, and I'm sure you won't wreck it that badly again. Right?"

Harvey grinned, and it sent shivers down Cecelia's spine. She rubbed her arms, and turned around. Now that she knew the status on her duel runner, she really had to get going to the Facility. She still needed to talk to Yusei.

"See you."

"Before you go, make sure to stop by later. Himika came by to ask if you were around. I think she's looking for you."

Cecelia nodded and left the garage. Now she could finally get to the Facility.

* * *

 **Good news! This chapter is over 3,000 words! I'm thinking that's a good baseline for how long the chapters should be from now on.**

 **It's sure taking Cecelia a while to get to the Facility, isn't it? Well, she'll finally get there in the next chapter! So, look forward to that! I hope you enjoyed the chapter, and stay tuned for the next one!**


	16. A Visit to the Facility

**Welcome to the next chapter! As you all know, I do not own _Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's_. I really need to remember to do this more often. Enjoy!**

* * *

Since it still wasn't too late in the day, Cecelia decided she still had time to go over to the Facility. She doubted that Yusei knew much, but it would be a good idea to fill him in on the Signers and the Crimson Dragon. Plus, she was told that she should stay close to the Signers. That meant all of them. She had already been with Jack, and the only other one she knew was Yusei.

Changing into her junior uniform seemed like a good idea. Goodwin said that he was going to let the Facility know that she was going to be there, but he did tell her to come up with a better reason. So if she pretended that she was still considering going into Sector Security, it should be enough to let her in.

Cecelia only switched jackets and tied the yellow bandana around the belt loop on her right hip. She left the jacket unzipped, and went on her way.

The walk from her house to the Facility took longer than Cecelia thought it would. She had to take a couple breaks since she was taking shallow breaths. When she took the breaks, she did her best to take deep breaths in just like the doctor told her, but it sure did hurt like hell. He wasn't kidding about that.

After forty minutes of trekking through hell, Cecelia finally made it to the Facility. Cecelia took another pained deep breath, and she walked through the front doors. She saw the officer at the entrance and rubbed her arms, her anxiety kicking in. She didn't like talking to people.

"Hey, where's Chief Takasu?"

"Who's asking?"

"Cecelia Briceño. Director Goodwin assured me he would let you know I was coming. I…want to see how things work in the Facility. I'm trying to decide if I want to be an officer, so just tell me where he is."

The officer in front of her nodded, though hesitantly.

"Alright, I'll let him know you're here. Just wait a bit."

Cecelia nodded and walked away.

Five minutes later, Chief Takasu walked out. He looked around the room, until his eyes landed on Cecelia.

"Cecelia Briceño," he said gruffly, causing Cecelia to jump. "Come with me. And relax, would you? You can't show weakness in front of those good-for-nothing Satellites."

She stood up and muttered a quick, "Sorry." She followed Chief Takasu through the doors and to an office with a bunch of monitors all crowded around a desk. The chief sat down at his desk, and Cecelia stood in front of him, hands in her pockets.

"So you want to see how things work here in the Facility, huh?"

"Yes sir. I'm still trying to decide if I want to become an officer or not, so I thought it would be good to see all aspects of the job. I've seen what my parents do, now I want to see what happens behind the scenes."

Chief Takasu smirked.

"Good answer. I like you. Now, since the Director let you in here, you've been cleared to witness something not many officers here get to see. Figured we should pull out all the stops if you're close to Director Goodwin."

He stood up, and made his way toward the door. Cecelia followed him, and the chief led her to a different room. This one had more scientific looking equipment. Two people in lab coats were at the equipment, checking things, and there was also some sort of cylindrical shaped machine. Next to it, a table with some open straps. The table was long enough for a person to lay down on.

 _Are they going to do something to one of the prisoners here?_ wondered Cecelia.

"We've been instructed to look for something on one of the Satellites here. Like a mark on his arm," explained Chief Takasu, "You're supposed to know something about what it looks like."

Cecelia kept her serious expression, but inside, she was concerned and full of questions.

 _Some sort of mark? Are they talking about Yusei? Goodwin did say that he was going to let me in, but I didn't know this was what he meant. What are they even going to do?_

"What does the search consist of?"

"I'll leave that as a surprise for you."

A smirk followed those words, and Cecelia couldn't help but feel nervous. Everyone knew that Chief Takasu despised Satellites — most Sector Security officers did. If Yusei was indeed coming — there was almost no doubt in Cecelia's mind — this was going to be a rough time for him. Based on what she saw in the room, they were going to try and find the Mark of the Dragon using some very painful methods. Cecelia didn't even know how she was going to try and talk to Yusei.

 _What am I even supposed to say? "Hey! I'm that girl you saw three years ago! I have some news that can change your life. Anyway, what's up with you?" Yeah. That'll go well._

Cecelia sighed, and squeezed her fists. It was still painful to do that. Tears started welling up in her eyes, and she tried to force them back down. She tried taking a deep breath to calm herself, but that only made the situation worse. She just couldn't breathe normally until she was healed. Cecelia couldn't help but wonder how long that was going to take. Either way, it wasn't going to be any fun.

A beep interrupted the silence that had fallen upon the room.

 _"Chief, I brought Number 88."_

The door opened, and Cecelia tried to keep her poker face as she looked at Yusei. She didn't make eye contact, and just glanced down when she saw his gaze fall in her direction. The guards that had brought Yusei and Chief Takasu didn't seem to care, or they were just to preoccupied with the new Satellite they got to torture. She was just worried about what exactly they were going to do.

Cecelia stepped up and stood next to Chief Takasu. She put her hands in the pockets of her jacket. The two guards then brought Yusei forward, so he was in front of the chief. He looked down at Yusei.

"Let me start off by saying this," he pulled out what looked like some of his nose hair and then leaned down to look Yusei in the eye. "I hate the people of Satellite."

He blew the nose hair in Yusei's face, making Yusei turn his head to the side. Cecelia cringed. The chief then walked around behind Yusei, and Cecelia followed. He grabbed Yusei's right arm, and pulled it behind the duelist's back, far enough that it would hurt.

"In truth, I don't like touching them either."

Chief Takasu then pulled back Yusei's glove and sleeve to reveal his skin. There was nothing there, but Cecelia thought she saw just a hint of the Dragon's Mark. Chief Takasu looked at Cecelia, and she shook her head in response. Chief Takasu pushed Yusei forward to the two men in lab coats.

"Inspect him!" Chief Takasu paused and grinned. "Thoroughly."

Cecelia tried to keep her worry and shock in check. The way he said "Thoroughly" was anything but good. She took another deep breath in, trying to ignore the pain that resulted from it. She calmed herself, and kept her act up. They hadn't done anything, and she already hated being there. Cecelia learned when she was little that Satellites were just like the people of Neo Domino City. Satellites were just from a different area. Sure, the Satellite was a dump, but that didn't mean they were any less of human beings. If they were given the chance, they could probably do things that were more productive. At least, that was how Cecelia saw it.

The two men in lab coats decided to strap Yusei to the table, but only after making him take off his clothes first. They checked on the connection from the huge machine to the monitors, and then checked to see if Yusei's information was showing. While that was going on, Chief Takasu stood over them, supervising everything. Cecelia stood behind the chief. She didn't want to know about any of this, but she still had to keep her act up.

Yusei was then slid into the machine. Once he was inside, one of the lab coats turned on the machine. It sent electrical currents through, shocking Yusei. He made some noises of discomfort, but it didn't seem to be too painful. Chief Takasu and the others still couldn't see the mark, but Cecelia could. It was just a faint red, but it was definitely there.

 _Am I the only one that can see it?_

Cecelia concluded that since Chief Takasu and the others didn't stop, it could only mean that it hadn't truly appeared yet. The intensity was then turned up, resulting in Yusei's shouts of pain.

The machine stopped, and Yusei was pulled out of it. Cecelia and Chief Takasu stood on both ends of the table Yusei was on. The table was then positioned vertically, and Chief Takasu gripped Yusei's hair, and made Yusei look up at him. Cecelia cringed once again and looked away.

"Had enough already? A citizen of Satellite isn't worthy of a duel runner or a deck." Chief Takasu let go of Yusei. "Your duel runner and deck are both property of the Public Maintenance Department. It seems the Director has an interest in your belongings. They're being thoroughly inspected in the security vault."

Chief Takasu blew more nose hair in Yusei's face, and Cecelia shook her head.

"Disgusting." Cecelia was talking about the nose hair, but the chief assumed she was talking about Yusei.

"Spot on Cecelia. Satellites are disgusting. You two" — the two guards looked up — "take the trash back to its cell. Briceño, you didn't see anything, right?"

Cecelia nodded. "Nothing, sir."

"Then you're dismissed."

Cecelia did see something, but she decided it wasn't a good idea to say something. Chief Takasu and the two lab coats hadn't seen anything, so it would be strange if she was the only one that did. Not to mention that would bring up a few questions. She was only worried about what they would do in the days to come. What if they repeated that entire process again? She didn't want to be present for that.

The two guards dragged Yusei down the halls, Cecelia following. She was at a distance where they wouldn't notice she was following them. When the guards got to Yusei's cell, they just threw him in. Yusei stumbled and hit the floor. The guards closed the door and locked it. Once they were far enough away, Cecelia peered through. And old man was kneeling over Yusei.

"Pull yourself together. What did they do to you?" The old man sounded concerned. Yusei sat up and leaned against the wall and looked at the old man. Cecelia put her hands in her pockets and leaned up against the wall.

"We were looking for a mark," said Cecelia. Yusei and the old man looked up at her in shock. Cecelia scratched her cheek. "Well, I wasn't really a part of that, so, _they_ were looking for a mark. Yusei, what do you know about the Mark of the Dragon? Or about the Signers?"

"So it really is you," said Yusei, "Cece—"

"We don't have time for that," said Cecelia sternly, "We can have a nice reunion later. What do you know about the Mark of the Dragon and the Signers?"

Yusei looked forward. "When the Crimson Dragon appeared, it appeared on my arm and then vanished."

Cecelia heard footsteps coming down the hallway. It wasn't going to be too long before the guard was by the cell. She wasn't exactly authorized to be there, and she wasn't done talking.

"Hey! What are you doing there?"

 _Shit._

"I was trying to find the exit." A drop of sweat rolled down the side of Cecelia's face.

The guard sighed. "Follow me."

He kept walking, and Cecelia looked down at Yusei.

"We're not done here," she whispered. The guard looked behind him. Cecelia jogged to catch up to him. He raised an eyebrow in confusion, but let it go. Instead, he showed Cecelia to the exit. They passed a door, revealing the entrance Cecelia went through earlier that day. She walked outside, and noticed it was nighttime.

"Nighttime?! I need to hurry!"

Cecelia was late to Jack's penthouse. She needed to get her flute from her house and then go over to the penthouse. She couldn't exactly run, and that meant that it was going to take a long time.

The young duelist sighed. It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Some time later, Cecelia arrived at the penthouse. She walked inside and saw that Jack was sitting at his couch.

"Sorry I'm late," she said.

"It's fine," responded Jack, "I don't want you to play anything tonight anyways."

He had his deck in front of him, and he was just staring at it. Cecelia huffed.

 _I rushed over here for nothing?! Thanks a lot, Mr. King._

Cecelia turned around and left the penthouse without a word. She didn't really have anything to say to Jack anyway. If he didn't want her to play anything, then she wouldn't. She was tired anyway, and really was not in the mood to play anything; it worked out for her as well.

When Cecelia got home, she immediately went to her room. She changed out of her clothes, and laid down on her bed. She really just wanted to sleep. She was almost asleep, but her door suddenly slamming open jolted her awake. It was her dad.

Jamie's eye were wide. He had one hand on the doorknob, and the other on the doorframe. His hair was disheveled, and he was wearing his pajamas as well.

"Dad, what are you doing?"

"I got a call from Chief Takasu," he panted, "You were at the Facility today?!"

"Whoa, what is this all about?"

"He told me to tell you that he wanted you back there tomorrow! Why were you there in the first place?"

"I wanted to find some things out."

"Oh no. You are telling me everything."

Jamie walked over to Cecelia's bed, and sat at the foot of it. He was looking at his daughter intently, waiting for her to say something.

"So you know when I was little and we went to the Satellite? I met three little boys there at that orphanage you showed me."

Jamie nodded. "Yeah, and?"

"First of all, the Duel King, Jack, is one of them. And Yusei Fudo is another — the one you sent to the Facility."

Jamie crossed his arms. "So you went to the Facility. Just to see this Yusei Fudo?"

"No! There's more to the story, and it's really complicated. I had a really strange dream with a red dragon, and after waking up, I decided to ask Jack how he got to the city. Now that I think about it, I never really got an answer to that…Anyway, Jack was going to meet with Goodwin, and I tagged along. He told us about something called the People of the Stars. Long story short, there's this legend about five Signers, a Crimson Dragon, and a Vessel of the Crimson Dragon."

"So what does this all have to do with Jack and Yusei?"

"Both of them are Signers."

"And what does this all have to do with you?"

"Apparently, I am the Vessel of the Crimson Dragon. The red dragon I saw in my dream was that very Crimson Dragon."

Jamie had a confused expression on his face. "I know it's confusing," said Cecelia, "I don't really understand either, and I probably didn't explain it really well either. Long story short, I was told to stay close to the Signers, and Jack and Yusei are both Signers."

"So why can't you just talk to Jack about it?"

"He just seems interested in the music," sighed Cecelia, "It's not like he wants to talk about it anyway. He didn't even want me to play any music tonight."

Her father looked thoughtful and concerned. He didn't like the idea of his daughter going to the Facility. It just wasn't something she should be doing. Jamie thought that Cecelia should just be playing music, or resting after the crash.

"Oh yeah, and the Crimson Dragon is what made me crash that night."

"What?!"

"Yeah, it appeared in the sky, then flew at me, and then I lost my balance and you know the rest."

"Then are you really sure you should be looking into this?"

"I don't really think I have a choice, Dad. Goodwin made it seem like this is all really important."

"Well if the Director is involved…"

Cecelia yawned. "I think I'm going to go to sleep, Dad."

"Right. Well, if you want to talk any more about this, you know your mother and I are always here for you. We'll always support you."

"I know Dad," Cecelia smiled.

Jamie got up and left the room, and Cecelia went to bed.

The next day, she woke up, and got dressed. She decided not to go with her junior uniform — she just wore her regular black high neck jacket. Once she was ready, it was time to go to the Facility again. Chief Takasu did say he wanted her there again after all. When Cecelia arrived, she saw Chief Takasu there.

"Chief."

He turned around, and smirked when he saw her.

"Cecelia," he said, "Come with me. And hurry up."

She quickly followed him, but it was really hard to keep up. The chief was so much taller after all. Each of his steps was around three of Cecelia's. She followed him to a big, almost auditorium-like space. There weren't many people in the room, but there was one that caught Cecelia's attention. She recognized that long grey hair anywhere.

"Goodwin?!"

* * *

 **Hello muchachos! I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!**

 **I had always watched the dub of _Yu-Gi-Oh 5D's_ , and I started to watch the sub when I started writing this fanfic. And this episode had me so shocked towards the beginning! I never realized the extent to what they cut out for the dub. I mean, I know they did, but it still gave me chills while watching it. I can't wait for the rest of the series .**

 **Well after that little splurge, I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter, and I'll see you all in the next one!**


	17. So…Powers?

Cecelia walked up to Goodwin. "Why didn't you say anything about coming here yourself?"

"It was not something I had been planning Cecelia."

Cecelia crossed her arms. Split decision or not, she still would have liked to know so she didn't end up looking like an idiot. Like just a few moments ago.

She sighed and stepped away from Goodwin. He placed his hand on her shoulder. Goodwin looked intrigued, but Cecelia didn't know exactly about what. He looked Cecelia in the eye. "Are you sure you saw nothing yesterday?"

Cecelia jumped back in disgust. "You mean you were behind all of that? You're disgusting!"

Two guards grabbed Cecelia's arms, holding her back. She rolled her eyes; she wasn't really going to do anything to Goodwin.

"Miss Briceño, you have to understand that Satellites have to be dealt with in a certain matter."

"In a certain matter? Are you kidding me?!"

Cecelia closed her eyes and sighed. This was ridiculous. She looked at the guards and pulled her arms out of their grip. "Calm down, I'm not going to do anything."

The two guards relaxed and stood at attention again. They walked back to their stations, and Cecelia looked back at Goodwin. Her eyes were full of antipathy. Satellites were humans; they way Chief Takasu was dealing with the prisoners was just barbaric, and it was all possible because of Goodwin. He was the one that made it possible.

"If you'll excuse me Miss Briceño, I have something to attend to. Stay with Chief Takasu for the time being."

Cecelia glared at him. He wasn't in charge of her; she wasn't a Sector Security officer. However, if she did want to learn anything else about the Crimson Dragon and people of the stars, it would be a good idea to stay on Goodwin's good side for now. She walked to where Chief Takasu was, and stood on his right side, slightly behind him. She crossed her arms, shifted her weight to her right leg, and looked forward.

Soon, all of the prisoners in the Facility started walking through the doors. Cecelia looked through the crowd to find Yusei, but it was hard focus on each individual when they were all moving. She kept scanning the crowd, until her eyes landed on hair that looked like an upside down crab. And it was black with golden highlights. A smirk flashed across Cecelia's face.

 _Found you._

The old man from the previous night was there, standing next to Yusei, on his left. Yusei looked up, and made eye contact with Cecelia. The corners of her mouth moved upward, hinting at a smile.

The smile was immediately replaced by a serious expression as Cecelia noticed Chief Takasu step forward. He was getting ready to speak.

"Attention! For today's rehab lesson, we invited Director Rex Goodwin of the Neo Domino City Public Maintenance Department. Open your hearts and listen to his talk about public maintenance!"

Cecelia looked at Yusei, and saw his look of surprise. She had a feeling Goodwin had just looked at Yusei, but she couldn't look up at the Director. She felt like that would bring too much attention to her; she was standing next to Chief Takasu, after all. Besides, she didn't want to cause a scene again.

"There is a big reason why I separated the two groups of people between Neo Domino City and Satellite." Goodwin walked away from the podium/stage area and kept talking. He walked down the stairs. Cecelia mentally groaned.

 _What is this? Assembly day?_

"The two worlds complement one another in order to promote development. The people who live at Satellite are Satellite citizens, and people who live at Neo Domino City are Neo Domino City citizens. There's a reason why this is necessary." Goodwin was walking down the rows of people, and stopped next to Yusei. "If you leave Satellite, then the order of the world is disturbed. One person's reckless actions can result in causing trouble for his friends and acquaintances."

 _Ok that's clearly directed to Yusei,_ thought Cecelia, _And if one person leaving Satellite disrupts the balance, then how come Jack is fine staying here? Seems like it's only if Goodwin finds you and likes you._

Cecelia just zoned out after that. She didn't even want to listen to this. It was like she was a teacher at a school assembly, and that was definitely something she did not want to do. The talk was just dumb, and made Cecelia see some of the lies that Goodwin is full of.

Takasu leaned back, bringing Cecelia back to reality.

"And that concludes the Director's training speech. Return to your rooms immediately!"

All of them started walking out, led by the guards. The guards were holding some sort of baton, and it looked like they were ready to use it at any given moment. Cecelia saw Yusei walking by, and Takasu put his hands on his hips.

"Number 88, you stay here."

Yusei stopped walking and stared at Takasu and Cecelia. The man with the blue spiky hair said something to Yusei, but Cecelia couldn't make it out. Yusei nodded, and the man walked away, as well as the older man. Goodwin, Chief Takasu, and Cecelia walked towards Yusei. Cecelia was the last to get to Yusei, and during the few steps it took her to reach him, she was glaring daggers at Goodwin. She still hadn't gotten over what she found out earlier.

"The King is currently dueling at that stadium," said Goodwin.

"So what?"

Takasu glared at Yusei. "Watch your mouth!"

Goodwin held a hand up. "It's fine."

"What do you want to know about me?" asked Yusei. Cecelia frowned. She did tell him about how they were looking for a mark, but it seemed like Yusei wanted to get the answer directly from Goodwin.

"Everything. Where did the mark go?"

Cecelia looked down at Yusei's arm, and for a moment, she thought that she saw a faint red glow of the mark.

 _But why does that keep happening? Why do I see it? Does it have to do with being the Vessel?_

"Why does the Public Maintenance Department care about that?"

"Because it relates to public maintenance."

Cecelia looked at Goodwin in disbelief. Did he just say that?

"Seriously?" muttered Cecelia. Chief Takasu looked at her.

"Briceño, show some respect. If you're not going to speak up then don't say anything!"

Cecelia crossed her arms and turned slightly away from the chief. Yusei kept looking at Goodwin.

"What are you thinking about? In that speech you gave, what did you mean by pain?"

Cecelia was puzzled. Pain? When did Goodwin talk about pain?

"I also don't know what you're thinking about. I just wanted to talk about the relationship between Neo Domino City and Satellite."

"Don't touch my friends. They have nothing to do with this."

"Really?"

"Who are you?" asked Yusei. Goodwin turned and walked a few steps away from Yusei.

"I'm just a person who dreams of Neo Domino City's development and peace in the world."

Cecelia's eye twitched. "Peace in the world? Are you kidding me?"

Yusei looked at Cecelia with wide eyes, and Chief Takasu turned to Cecelia and grabbed her arm. "That's enough of your insubordination! You need to respect the Director!"

"Let go." Cecelia yanked her arm away, and glared at Goodwin. "If you really want peace, why trap people in the Satellite? Why can they never leave? Their conditions are sh—trash, while ours are great? If you want peace, why not make things a little more balanced?"

"As I said earlier, Miss Briceño, the Satellite and Neo Domino City are linked. They feed into each other. That is something that can't be easily changed. But since I must deal with this reality, I'm willing to sacrifice one side to ensure the survival of the other."

"Sacrifice?" asked Yusei.

"It's just an example."

 _Example my ass. He enjoys this, doesn't he?_ Cecelia kept glaring at Goodwin. That expression he had made wasn't one of no other option. It had given Cecelia chills. She wasn't sure she could completely trust Goodwin anymore. Sure, some of his information corresponded with what the Crimson Dragon said, but the way he spoke about things just didn't feel right.

* * *

Cecelia sighed as she looked up at the ceiling. She was back at home laying on her bed. She had been forced to go home after that whole thing. The big excuse was that she should be resting after everything that happened.

 _I guess Goodwin didn't like that. But what the hell am I supposed to do now? I told him I needed to talk to Yusei, but he didn't even let me do that. But I guess resting is a pretty good idea._

A thought crossed Cecelia's mind for just a moment. She could try and talk to the Crimson Dragon. She had only talked to him once, and it did seem like a good idea. She could find out more about what it meant to be the Vessel of the Crimson Dragon. The only time she had talked to the Crimson Dragon was in a dream, but she could try calling out to it. Maybe she would be able to talk to it while she was awake.

"Hey! Crimson Dragon!" Cecelia waited a few moments, but received no answer. She frowned. Cecelia was sure that the Crimson Dragon had heard her, but maybe that wasn't the right way to call out to him.

 _Maybe this way…Crimson Dragon? Are you there?_

There was still no answer from the dragon.

 _You know, if I remember correctly, the all powerful Crimson Dragon said it would help me heal faster. Yet, I still have a bruised rib that hurts like hell and a concussion, albeit a minor one. What happened to the power that would help me heal? I mean, it_ is _your fault._

 _"I am doing the best I can. I could have left you a lot worse off, I'll have you know."_

 _So you were listening._

 _"Of course I was. I am a part of you, and you are a part of me."_

 _Then why didn't you answer sooner?_

The Crimson Dragon sighed. _"You immediately started questioning my power. I wanted to hear what you had to say. What do you need?"_

 _I want more information about being the Vessel. What's it all about? You said you flow inside me; what do you mean?_

 _"As the Vessel, you share my power and also give some of it to the Signers. The Vessel determines which side I belong to in the war. If you get influenced by evil, I have to follow."_

 _Influenced how?_

 _"The evil in this war has many tricks. They know that by bringing you to their side, I follow, allowing them to win. This is because we are connected. Because I exist in you, I am tied to you and the side that you are on."_

 _Basically, if we are to win, I can't be influenced by this evil._

 _"Correct."_

 _Alright. What else?_

 _"Along with my power to heal you, you can also use some of my power."_

 _Some of your power? What do you mean?_

 _"Well, the simplest one, is being able to tell who Dark Signers are."_

 _Who Dark Signers…wait! You mean like the visions I had?_

 _"Yes. Three years ago, you saw Kiryu Kyosuke in a vision as a Dark Signer. And while you were with Goodwin and Jack, you saw another vision of two evil beings you will be battling along with the Signers."_

 _But why is that?_

 _"It is their destiny, so you can see it before it even happens, or they even know about it themselves. All of your destinies are tied together."_

Cecelia smirked.

 _So how else can I use your power? Can I test it out now?_

The Crimson Dragon hesitated. _"I…suppose so. The rest of them are not exactly simple per say; however, you can use this power to appear where the Signers are."_

 _So you mean I can teleport?_

 _"Do not get too excited. As you are right now, I would not expect you to be able to do too much. I do not see it possible for you to actually go to one of them — perhaps a window you can speak to them through?"_

Cecelia shook her head. _No way. If I use that power, I'm going to be there in person. How do I do it?_

 _"You can manipulate my power in different ways. Why not try something a little simpler first?"_

 _No. You said I can appear where the Signers are, and I am going to talk to Yusei. Acting like I was still thinking about becoming an officer didn't work as well as I thought it would. I didn't get a chance to talk to him for as long as I would have liked, and I'm pretty sure Goodwin just used me to try and find Yusei's mark._

 _"But you saw his mark?"_

 _Yeah, but neither of the lab coats or Chief Takasu were able to see it. It seems like it's another power I have. Why didn't you say anything about that one?_

 _"That did not happen with the other Vessel. Well, there was never a moment for it before…"_

 _So you don't even know everything about your power?_

 _"My powers evolve with the Vessel I inhabit. If you were able to do that so quickly, there might be a chance you can use the power to appear where that Signer is."_

 _I thought you didn't—_

 _"Do you want me to teach you or not?"_

 _Fine, fine. Just show me how to do it._

Cecelia stood up from the bed.

 _"Do you remember how you felt when I flew into you that night?"_

 _Not very well. I think it was kind of like a gust of wind?_

The Crimson Dragon sighed again. _"_ _Never mind. Just close your eyes and try to feel my energy coursing through you._ _"_

Cecelia closed her eyes and focused. She didn't know what exactly to focus on, but she tried to reach out for something.

 _"Try visualizing it. Remember what I looked like flying in the sky."_

Cecelia saw the red, flowing form of the Crimson Dragon. She focused on the moment when he flew into her. Her body had felt like it was heating up, but immediately afterwards it felt cool.

 _"Good. Just like that."_

Her eyes opened, glowing yellow just like the eyes of the Crimson Dragon. Both of her hands were covered with some sort of red and black light. It looked exactly like the color of the Crimson Dragon's body.

 _Is this what the power looks like?_

 _"Yes. Now think of the Signer you are trying to appear in front of. As you think of them, you should start to see their surroundings. Try to make that light cover your entire body, and then you should be there with them."_

 _Sounds complicated. Maybe this isn't—_

 _"Don't start to doubt yourself now. Focus and do it._ _"_

Cecelia nodded and tried to make the light on her hands spread first. It started slowly moving to her wrist, and Cecelia started thinking of Yusei. She then started seeing his cell, but this time it was different. She didn't see the old man he was with before. Instead it was a man with purple hair.

She closed her eyes, and when she opened them again, she was floating in the air. Above Yusei. The light that was on her body was gone, and so was the glow over her eyes. Her eyes widened in shock and she yelped when she fell on top of Yusei. She landed and immediately cringed in pain. That definitely didn't do anything to help her bruised rib.

 _"I am impressed. I did not think you would be able to do it on your first try. Well done. You trul_ _y are my Vessel after all."_

"Cecelia!"

"Damn that hurts…"

After a few minutes, Cecelia looked up at Yusei. She wiped the tears from her eyes.

"What's wrong?"

"Just…from the crash. I'll be fine; give me a minute."

Yusei's roommate looked up at Cecelia.

"How did you…?"

"Complicated."

While Cecelia was recovering from the pain, Yusei's roommate looked up at him.

"If you want to escape, want to come with me?" He walked to the lower bunk, and Yusei leaned over the edge to see what was going on. A few seconds later, Cecelia did the same. The roommate lifted up his mattress to reveal a hole, big enough for a person to fit through.

"It took half a year. Do you want to see what's up ahead?"

They all climbed down the hole and were on the outside of the building, on the roof. There were security lights everywhere. The roommate walked a bit further and then stopped. He pointed up to the sky. The moon was shining down, and the stars were visible too.

"Look. From that opening, we can reach the upper portions of Neo Domino City."

"But how?" asked Yusei.

"My friends will come to rescue me tomorrow night."

"What about those?" Cecelia pointed to their markers, "They'll start transmitting once you leave."

"No problem! My friends will jam the security system via the internet. The marker won't transmit for one hour. It's a method that can only be used once. If they discover the jamming, the system will be changed to something new, and that hole might also be discovered."

"I have one request," said Yusei, "I want to include two more people in this plan."

"Himuro and that grandpa?"

 _Himuro…is that the man with the spiky blue hair. He did seem close to Yusei, so I think that's who they're talking about?_

Yusei nodded, and his roommate sighed.

"Fine. I think five people might be pushing it, but it should still work."

"Don't worry about me," said Cecelia, "I'll be able to leave the way I came. I think."

The roommate nodded. "Anyway, if we don't escape between eight and nine o'clock tomorrow, we won't have a second chance. Got it?"

Yusei and Cecelia nodded, and they went back to the cell. The entire way back, Cecelia's mind was full of questions. She didn't even know how she was going to get back. The Crimson Dragon had talk about appearing where the Signers were, but nothing about going back. Cecelia had a pit in her stomach. What if she couldn't get out before guards came around? What would happen to her then?

Once they were in the cell again, Yusei looked at Cecelia.

"Why are you here?"

Cecelia looked away. Now that she was here and actually had a chance to tell Yusei calmly about the Crimson Dragon, she was starting to doubt herself. She wasn't even sure why she had to tell him right away. It's not like they were even friends. She met him briefly when she was little, then when she was a teen, and now. Hardly enough to be friends. She was just the Sector Security girl. And why did she not like that feeling that she had when she thought of that? Was it disappointment?

No. She had to stop thinking about that, and get explaining.

"I wanted to fill you in on some things. Now listen up."

* * *

 **And another chappie is finished! But holy hell I procrastinate on these things, which is probably why they're updated so late. I should probably try and fix that…but it's when I do my best work, so I don't really know. What I do know, is that I put the pro in procrastination.**

 **Well, Cecelia knows more about her new powers now! And she picked up pretty fast too, didn't she? I wonder if that was just beginner's luck?**

 **So, not much to say here, so I hope you guys enjoyed! Until next time!**


	18. Between a Dragon and a Hard Place

"Firstly," said Cecelia nervously, "I wanted to apologize for not doing anything before. To stop what they did to you, I mean. It's been bugging me for a while, and I really regret not speaking up. I'm sorry, Yusei." She coughed, "So now that that's out of the way, yesterday, I asked you if you knew anything about the Signers or Crimson Dragon."

Yusei nodded. They were both sitting on his bunk. Cecelia still felt a little awkward, so she was sitting as far away as she could from him. She slouched against the wall.

"Do you?"

He shook his head. "Not much more than when it appeared, the mark appeared on my arm. And that you crashed too."

Cecelia and Yusei looked down at his arm. It started glowing, and both of them had to shield their eyes from it. Cecelia had to squint to be able to see Yusei. "So you can see it too? It's not just me?"

"Yeah."

"What are you two talking about?" Cecelia and Yusei looked down at Yusei's roommate.

"You don't see it?" asked Yusei.

"What am I supposed to be seeing?"

Cecelia crossed her arms. "As of now, it's probably something only the Signers can see. And me."

"You're not a Signer?"

"No. I'm something called the Vessel of the Crimson Dragon. That means part of it is inside of me."

"Inside of you?"

"I can't really explain it that well, but I can harness some of the Crimson Dragon's power."

"Is that how you got here?"

Cecelia nodded. She held her hand out in front of her and closed her eyes. She concentrated on the Crimson Dragon, and started to feel its power coursing through her. She opened her eyes, and saw that Yusei was staring at her with wide eyes.

"Cecelia, you…"

She raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"When did you get a tail?!" exclaimed Yusei's roommate.

"Haha, very funny."

"You do," said Yusei

Cecelia looked at him, and then turned around. Sure enough, there was a crimson tail behind her. It looked like exactly the one the Crimson Dragon had.

"What the hell?!" She was in shock. Why did she have a tail of all things? Cecelia was just trying to make the power cover her hands like before, but it looked like she didn't have complete control yet. But obviously, that was expected. She had only just started to use the power.

Yusei's mark was glowing, and it looked like the roommate saw it this time.

"So she gets a tail, and now you have a glowing mark on your arm?"

Yusei and Cecelia looked down in shock. They definitely were not expecting that.

Footsteps soon followed, and a group of guards were at the door.

"Number 88! Cecelia Briceño! Come with us."

Cecelia and Yusei looked at each other and then got down from the bunk. The door to the cell opened, and the guards were waiting for them.

 _How did they know I was here? And what am I going to do about this tail?_

No matter what Cecelia tried to do, the tail would not disappear. It was just there, in all of its bright crimson glory. Yusei's mark was glowing very brightly as well.

The guards grabbed Yusei's arms pretty roughly and started walking. They did the same with Cecelia, and treated her pretty much the same way. She just didn't understand why. Cecelia was not a prisoner of the Facility — she never did anything to get in trouble.

The two duelists were led to an office. And it looked like it belonged to Chief Takasu.

"Chief, we have Number 88 and Briceño."

 _"Good, bring them in."_

Cecelia and Yusei were dragged into the office. Chief Takasu had a scowl on his face. Cecelia glanced at the two guards holding her and tried to pull her arms out of their grip. That only made them tighten their grip.

Takasu stomped over and got in Cecelia's face. "I knew something was off about you. First when we brought this trash in," he nodded over to Yusei, "and then when the Director gave his training speech. And finally tonight's little trick. You were trying to get him out, weren't you?"

Cecelia stayed silent. Her tail lifted up, and then down again. She considered using it, but she doubted she would be able to control it.

 _Crimson Dragon, what the hell am I supposed to do with this tail?_

 _"I think you should worry more about the situation at hand. I will explain it to you once that is over."_

 _Some all-powerful being you are._

"Are you listening to me?"

Cecelia noticed that Takasu had just finished saying something. But since she was listening to the Crimson Dragon, Cecelia hadn't payed attention to the chief.

Chief Takasu stepped behind Cecelia and looked at her tail. "You know, the people I hate more than Satellites, are the people who like the Satellites."

He grabbed her tail and pulled. Cecelia winced. It was like the tail was actually tied to her physically, and not just an illusion. She looked down, and tried not to show weakness. It would only make Takasu more aggressive.

"Now tell me what you were trying to do."

"I wasn't trying to _do_ anything."

Takasu yanked on Cecelia's tail again. This time, he did it much harder, causing the young Vessel to yelp in pain. It was definitely not the best feeling in the world. Takasu smirked.

"Now why don't you tell me the truth?"

Cecelia stayed quiet. Telling Takasu about the whole Vessel of the Crimson Dragon thing didn't seem like the best idea. He would just say she was making something up anyway. Cecelia rolled her eyes. She didn't even want to tell him anyway. It's not like she had to, right?

Cecelia looked up as Takasu's gruff voice cut through the silence. "I'm only going to ask you one more time. This is your last chance."

"What are you going to do?" asked Cecelia, "Tell the Director?"

Her voice was strangely calm, and it almost sounded like she didn't care. But at the same time, Cecelia was testing Takasu — giving him a challenge. Cecelia looked Takasu in the eye.

"Did Goodwin ever tell you what exactly you were looking for? He just told you it was a mark right? He didn't say what it looked like, or what it was?"

Takasu took a step back and looked a Cecelia in shock. She felt the grip he had on her tail release and she smirked.

"I don't think I really have the clearance to tell you about this. If Goodwin didn't even tell you about a little mark, you really aren't authorized to hear everything else. It looks like you're on a need-to-know basis, and I'm not sure you need to know."

Takasu was speechless. He didn't know how to respond to that. This little pipsqueak was telling him that she had higher clearance? The Facility was _his_ domain. The only person above him was Director Goodwin. This little Sector Security wannabe knew something that he didn't?

"Seeing your expression, I advise you to forget this happened and let us go back."

Cecelia felt a hand on her tail again, and it was at that moment that she knew she went a little too far. She closed her eyes and focused on the image of not having a tail, and before she knew it, it was gone. She breathed a sigh of relief. She heard footsteps from behind her, and soon Takasu was standing in front of her. He bent down to look her in the eyes.

"You won't _advise_ me to do anything. You'll be lucky if I don't throw ya in here like all of these good-for-nothing Satellites."

Cecelia didn't like the idea of that, but she doubted it would actually happen.

"Then why don't you just call the Director?" she challenged.

 _What are you doing?!_ she yelled at herself, _You stupid idiot, you could actually get thrown in here!_

Chief Takasu turned around and called Goodwin. He still hated the idea of a kid like Cecelia knowing more than him.

While Takasu was occupied, Cecelia glanced at Yusei. She didn't know what to do, so she looked forward and closed her eyes. Maybe the Crimson Dragon would have an idea?

 _Hey Crimson Dragon, what exactly am I supposed to do now?_

 _"I'm not here to give you all the answers to life,"_ he scoffed, _"As of now, I only help you develop your powers."_

 _You haven't even helped out that much! Ugh why do I even try to turn to you?_

 _"You keep doing so well on your own that I don't need to help that much."_

Cecelia sighed. It looked like she couldn't count on the Crimson Dragon this time. Besides, how would it even help? If she acted too rashly, she would be sent to the Facility like a criminal. Takasu would definitely not be as forgiving as her parents. Knowing him, Takasu would find a way to throw her in there to rot.

 _Think Cecelia think!_

Takasu turned around. He had an evil grin plastered on his face. He shoved his phone back into his pocket.

"You know," he said, "No one's above the law. Especially people that try to cause a prison break."

Cecelia flinched. That was obviously directed at her. Takasu looked at the guards, and they tightened their grip on her arms.

 _Crap_ , thought a panicked Cecelia, _I'm really about to get thrown in here._

Cecelia tried to get away from the grip of the guards, but after a some struggling, she couldn't. Cecelia sighed. There was no way she was getting out of there. It looked like she was going to be labeled as a criminal after all. How could she face anyone after this?

 _"I guess I can help you out,"_ said the Crimson Dragon, _"Seeing as how you're clearly not able to yourself. I do not want my Vessel stuck in here when we have work to do. All you have to do is focus on where you want to go that is not here. It would also help if it were somewhere another Signer is."_

 _Right,_ thought Cecelia, _Think of somewhere that isn't here and a Signer is at and then I'll be fine. If only I could think clearly…_

The red energy started to cover Cecelia, but she couldn't focus on anything. She knew she somehow had to focus on Jack's place, but she couldn't remember the details of the penthouse.

The guards, seeing how Cecelia's power was acting up again, decided to do something about it. The one on her left pivoted and punched her in the stomach. Cecelia winced, and the energy that was starting to cover her immediately dissipated. Cecelia crumpled to the ground and had her arms wrapped around her abdomen.

Cecelia faintly heard Takasu tell the guards to take Yusei back to his cell.

* * *

A sigh escaped Cecelia's lips as she sat on the bed in her cell. There was only one bed, and she could see the arm of a Sector Security officer. She frowned, remebering that she had to take off her jacket and switch back to her standard black one. She was told there was no way an inmate was going to look like a Sector Security officer.

Cecelia sighed again. It was like she was in some sort of solitary confinement. This was obvious because she didn't have a roommate, nor was she able to go outside of her cell like the others. Well, she was, but it was neither for a long time nor very often. She reached up to touch the still aching criminal mark on her cheek. It was in the shape of an arrowhead under her left eye, with the point oriented toward her ear.

 _Idiot!_ she told herself, _Why did you have to go ahead and do that? If you would have just stayed out of it, you wouldn't be in this situation!_

 _"So are you just going to sulk around?"_

Cecelia looked up at the ceiling.

 _What do you expect? They pretty much have me under constant surveillance. You're a strong and powerful dragon, can't you tell that there's an officer out there in front of the_ door?

She heard the dragon scoff. _"It isn't my fault you could not think of somewhere to go."_

 _Oh yeah and you're some grand all-powerful being that didn't even decide to use its own power when you were so desperate to get your "Vessel" out of that situation._

This time, the Crimson Dragon did not respond. Cecelia smirked.

 _Serves him right. How did he expect me to get out of there on my own?_

Cecelia rubbed her stomach. Her bruised rib was not that close to being healed, and getting punched was not helping. It was like that was the first thing people thought of. She laid down and put her hands behind her head but winced. She immediately pushed herself back up into a sitting position and frowned. Breathing was harder when she was laying down, and moving her arms didn't do much to help her.

Cecelia's eyes widened. What if she used the dragon's power to try and heal herself? She slowly leaned forward and looked to see if the guard outside of her cell was paying attention. She waited a few moments, and it looked like he wasn't. Cecelia leaned back again the wall and crossed her legs. She closed her eyes and concentrated on the Crimson Dragon's power within her. She was going to do it without the Crimson Dragon's help.

 _Who knows how much longer I'm going to have to wait if I don't do it myself? I can just figure it out on my own and it'll be fine._

Cecelia scrunched her brows together as she concentrated. She needed to focus on activating the power, but also not making it too obvious so guards wouldn't go in there and stop her. Cecelia felt the energy starting to expand, and soon it manifested. It surrounded her body, and once she was sure it was there, Cecelia focused on trying to condense it so the guard outside would not notice. No matter how hard she tried, it wouldn't work. The energy surrounding her didn't get smaller; the more she tried to control and condense it, the bigger it got.

The energy dissipated and Cecelia leaned against the wall. She didn't want to ask the Crimson Dragon for help, but she didn't know the first thing about trying to do something like heal herself.

 _"Of course you don't know how to do it. Up until now, you have been a normal human."_

Cecelia's eyes widened.

 _So you were watching me try this the entire time and didn't want to interject?_

 _"Well you didn't want my help."_

Cecelia frowned. _Alright fine. Then how do I go about healing myself, because you clearly aren't doing anything to help._

 _"How do you know I haven't done it already?"_

 _Well, um, because…_

 _"You don't even know how long you were sitting there trying to control your power do you? Just by doing that, I had more of an opening to try and heal you."_

 _How does that make sense?_

 _"You haven't awakened to your full potential yet, so it's harder for me to help you when you are not activating your power."_

 _That makes no sense._

 _"I wouldn't expect it to make sense for a human,"_ said the Crimson Dragon, _"As you develop your powers more you might understand; right now, you only have access to a fraction of it."_

Cecelia pouted. _There's no need to get all defensive about it._

 _"It would take too long to explain. Someone's about to come in here."_

 _Hey! You can't just leave me like that!_

This time, the Crimson Dragon didn't answer. Cecelia frowned, and decided to try and stretch. The Crimson Dragon _did_ say he healed her more. She lifted her arms up in the air and expanded her chest. Cecelia smiled. She felt amazing! Even before the crash, she never felt this energized. Cecelia lowered her arms and smiled. Looked like the Crimson Dragon did do something useful after all.

The Crimson Dragon grumbled in Cecelia's thoughts. Cecelia rubbed the back of her neck.

 _Oops, did I actually say that? Sorry Crimson Dragon._

Once again, the dragon did not answer Cecelia. She looked up towards the door once she heard it start to open. One of the guards walked into the cell and stood with his arms crossed. He looked at Cecelia and smirked.

"Number 90, Cecelia Briceño. You're coming with us."

Cecelia stood up and looked at the guard. "What for?"

"You'll see."

He beckoned for her to come closer, but Cecelia felt inclined to stay put. She had a bad feeling that this little field trip she was about to go on would involve Chief Takasu somehow; definitely not a good thing.

"I don't wanna have to do this by force," started the guard. He then smirked and cracked his knuckles. "But if ya give me no choice, I ain't complaining."

Cecelia gulped and put her hands in the pockets of her jacket. She took a step forward and passed the guard. She stopped when she was a few steps in front of him. It was now that Cecelia could really see the severity of her situation.

The young duelist was in the Hive, a different part of the Facility that housed criminals that were there either for long term or for doing something extremely bad. If a person was in there, it could be years before they were let out again. Cecelia let out a sigh inwardly.

 _Guess I can say goodbye to the next half year._

The guards grabbed Cecelia's arms and started to lead her towards the middle where Chief Takasu was waiting. Cecelia raised an eyebrow in confusion; she had no idea what was up. She had been quiet the entire time, and didn't cause any other problems for herself.

Cecelia heard the murmurs of the other prisoners. However, none of them were very loud, which was most likely a result of Takasu being there. A lot of them sounded confused, while others were interested. Cecelia spotted Yusei and the old man, and immediately turned her gaze to the ground.

"Well look what we have here," he said. It sounded like he was announcing to all of the inmates there. The guards led her up to Takasu, and then threw her on the ground. Cecelia coughed, as her breath was pushed out of her. She looked behind her and glared at the guards, but she still kept quiet. Takasu was definitely up to something, but she didn't want to make matters worse for herself by saying or doing something stupid.

Cecelia clenched her fists. She hated feeling this useless. She couldn't do anything, or else Takasu would most likely have her situation in the Facility made worse. All she could do was glare at him.

"What's that look for?" he asked with a smirk, "Oh, are you upset I know what you were hiding in your cell?"

Cecelia's eyes widened. Something she was hiding in her cell? What did he mean by that?

Takasu grinned as he inched towards Cecelia and took something out of her jacket. He then smirked and flashed a knife. Cecelia couldn't make any noise come out. Obviously it wasn't hers, but she was in so much shock that she couldn't find a way to refute it.

After a few moments, Cecelia pushed herself up so she was on her knees. Her eyes were still wide, and she finally managed to get some words out.

"That's not mine!"

"Then how did we find it in _your_ cell?" asked Takasu with a smirk, "Or rather, on your person? You were planning to attack one of our kind officers here and make your escape, weren't you?" Cecelia looked back down. Takasu then directed his attention to the rest of the inmates.

"Cecelia here has committed a huge crime!" he started, "And all of you are responsible! You all will have no free time for an entire year! No one has permission to leave their cells!"

All the inmates started protesting.

"Wait!"

"That's the same as being in solitary!"

"Be quiet!" barked Takasu, "Garbage like you have no right to complain! You're all worthless in society! You do not have the right for freedom!"

Cecelia glared at Takasu. He didn't seem to notice, and kept going.

"Just continue to live pathetically in the shadows for eternity!"

Cecelia stood up.

"That a lie," she growled. Takasu glared at her.

"What was that?"

"You liar," said Cecelia. Her eyes were stone cold, and she continued glaring. "It's only because you don't like us. You and I both know that is not my knife. And no one here is worthless! You just want to abuse your power! Since I'm the one who supposedly had the knife hidden, why don't you put just me in solitary?"

Takasu grit his teeth and punched Cecelia. The force knocked her to the floor, but she got back up again. She held her fists up to protect her face, but this only seemed to anger Takasu. He punched the sorry excuse for a guard that Cecelia had, causing her to take a few steps back. He finished with a hook, knocking Cecelia down, and this time, she stayed put. Takasu looked up at the inmates again.

"If you have any complaints," he said to the rest of the inmates as he kicked Cecelia, "Speak up now! However…"

Takasu picked up Cecelia by her collar and punched her again. She hit the ground head first, and could taste iron in her mouth. She coughed, and some blood escaped.

"…if you do, you'll end up the same as her!" Takasu then started laughing while the inmates started murmuring again. He picked her up one more time, and then whispered, "You have a lot to learn about the Facility. I have absolute power here."

Takasu let go, and Cecelia fell to the ground with an audible thud.

"How could he?"

"To a girl like that?"

"Brutal…"

All the inmates looked sorry for Cecelia. However, one voice cut through all of that.

"Wait!" Cecelia weakly opened her eyes at the voice, and looked up along with Takasu.

"No one in the world is worthless," said Yusei. Takasu laughed again.

"My my. The garbage from Satellite thinks he's a hero? Especially for the girl who watched him squirm in pain?"

"Cecelia is innocent," continued Yusei, "You and I both know she was uncomfortable during that. She wouldn't conspire to such a thing."

"And what are you going to do about it?" asked Takasu.

"Duel me," said Yusei, "If I win, no one gets put in solitary."

"And if I win?" inquired Takasu.

"Then only I get put in solitary."

* * *

 **Hello there! I know I've kind of vanished more a really long time — or what feels like a really long time… I've been super busy with my first year of college, and trying to switch majors is a really stinking long process, especially when you're trying not to fail the rest of your classes in a major that gives you an absurd amount of work.**

 **However! There is a bright side to this nasty long hiatus that I have taken! I have reworked my original idea for this fic, and now we are headed in a clear direction! No more stormy seas — we are set on a clear course for the rest of this fic! I have planned pretty far ahead, so I hopefully won't be taking a very long hiatus without warning again. Again, I'm really sorry about that.**

 **Well anyway, thank you to everyone who has been patiently waiting for our story to continue. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and please look forward to the rest!**


	19. A Duel Against the Dictator?

Cecelia was still looking at Yusei in shock. Why was he doing something like this? Only him get put in solitary confinement? He was insane!

Takasu grinned. "Fine. We'll settle things in a duel in front of everyone! I'll repeat the conditions again so you know what you're getting yourself into. You win, and I'll ignore Cecelia's crime and not take away anyone's free time. I win, and you go in solitary confinement and do whatever I want for the rest of you pathetic little life!"

Yusei nodded, and Takasu stifled a laugh. "The duel will take place tonight at 8:30. Understand?"

"Fine."

Two more guards starting dragging the old man that was with Yusei before out. The old man was resisting. "Stop! Please stop!"

They passed Cecelia, and stopped in front of Takasu. One of the guards pulled out a card.

"I found one!" They proceeded to take more cards out of the old man's socks and clothes. After the third one was revealed, he lunged forward.

"Wait! Those are my treasures!" he looked at Takasu and begged. "Give them back! Please!"

Takasu moved his arm and hit the old man across the face, knocking him back a few feet. He landed on the ground not to far from Cecelia. She heard Takasu's gruff voice from behind her. "I'm confiscating this deck. Listen, this will be your final free time!" Cecelia heard footsteps as Takasu started walking away. "Spend it well so that you have no regrets!"

The doors opened as Cecelia and the old man were being dragged away. Cecelia noticed Yusei sprint out of his cell. They threw the old man back into his cell where the man with spiky blue hair was waiting. They then dragged Cecelia further away and threw her in her own cell.

 _So they were both brought here with Yusei?_ wondered Cecelia, _I should really learn their names. I can't keep thinking of them as man with spiky blue hair and old man._

Cecelia slowly sat up and leaned against her bed. Right when she was starting to feel better too. Once she propped herself up, she reached into her jacket to make sure it was still there. Cecelia smiled as she pulled out her Symphony Djun card. The white hamster looked back up at her.

 _Thank goodness,_ she thought, _They didn't find you._

She put her card away and tried to stand up. She promptly fell over.

 _Now would be a good time to try and heal me Crimson._

 _"Oh you didn't say Crimson Dragon this time?"_

 _It's easier just to call you Crimson, and I'm tired. Wanna go ahead and heal me a bit? Or tell me how I should go about trying to do that myself?_

 _"Hmmm…I'm not quite sure how I would go about explaining it to you. Healing is not the easiest concept to grasp for a human."_

Cecelia frowned. _And I can't just go about this like it's a video game because it doesn't work like that either._

She heard an amused chuckle from the Crimson Dragon. _Oh, does my pain amuse you?_ she thought with a smirk. Cecelia then closed her eyes and concentrated. Hopefully by activating her power somewhat, she would be able to let the Crimson Dragon in so it could heal her.

 _"Smart girl,"_ said the Crimson Dragon, _"The best way to heal yourself is to let me do it. For now, at least."_

After a few moments, Cecelia heard footsteps, and soon after, Yusei appeared in the doorway, along with the old man and the man with spiky blue hair. There were a few other people behind them.

"Cecelia. Are you okay?" She looked up at him and nodded. Cecelia then looked down.

"Sorry."

"For what?"

Cecelia looked back up at Yusei. _Hmm I don't know? Maybe for causing you so many problems? Maybe for being the reason you have to duel_ _tonight?_

She shook her head. "Nevermind. You should focus on your duel tonight. Speaking of…"

Cecelia reached to where she had put her monster card, and saw the others look away. Her face suddenly felt warm. Cecelia was only reaching into her bra to take out the card. The reason she put it there because she felt like no one would check there. Almost all of the guards in the Facility were men anyway. She didn't think anyone would look there.

Cecelia cleared her throat, letting the others know that they could turn back around. "I was thinking that maybe you could use this in the duel? I was hoping I could help you in some way."

Yusei nodded and took the card. His companions frowned. "They took my deck," said the old man. The other one nodded. "Mine too."

"Himuro, how?" asked Yusei.

"They came into the cell last night and it looked like they were up to something. Takasu said something about changing his mind, and then they left. But they took my deck with them."

Cecelia frowned. Something didn't add up. It sounded like they were going to try and question Himuro, but Takasu suddenly changed his mind? What if Goodwin somehow knew that Cecelia could trigger the mark of the dragon?

"I think they were trying to accomplish something with me," she said, breaking the silence, "Something related to the Signers."

The old man's eyes widened. "You know about the Signers?!"

Cecelia nodded and smirked. "I would hope so. The Crimson Dragon's been in my head, so I would hope it's giving me the right—"

She was interrupted by the old man falling over, eyes as wide as saucers. He kept sputtering nonsense.

"Woah Gramps are you okay?" Cecelia crouched down next to the old man, whose sputtering only increased.

"B-but that…that means you're the Vessel of the Crimson Dragon!" he said, shock turning into awe.

"Uh, yeah, I am." Her attention shifted to Yusei. "Have you figured out how you're going to duel without a deck? My guess is you were banking on the fact that Himuro and Gramps still had their decks and you could use that?"

Yusei looked down. "Yeah."

Cecelia sighed. _That means he's going to get put in solitary confinement! And its going to be my fault. At least he has one card, right?  
_

"So what are you going to do now? If you don't come up with something, you know what's going to happen."

Yusei nodded and walked out. The guy with purple hair was waiting. "Understand? This is how the chief does things. He never intended to have a fair duel from the beginning. You fell for his taunts. Himuro and grandpa's decks were confiscated. Without a deck, you have no chance." He then stepped forward. "Let's just escape you and me! In their current state, they won't be able to make it."

"Nice to know you think so highly of me," said Cecelia with a soft chuckle. Yusei and his roommate looked at her in shock. She was standing a few steps away from the doorway, and was a little wobbly. Yusei's roommate stepped forward and gestured to her.

"Just look at you! You can barely even stand straight! Five of us is pushing it anyway!" He spoke in a hushed voice, careful not to let any of the guards hear him. Cecelia crossed her arms.

"I have my own way out anyway," she said, "My only issue is this." She pointed at her marker. "I just need the thing to jam this signal."

"And how are you going to get to our cell anyway? Takasu will be out here at 8:30, and our free time will probably have ended."

"Well…"

"I can't do that," said Yusei. Cecelia and the man with purple hair looked at him.

"Why not? You don't owe these people anything."

"Since we dueled, we're now friends."

Cecelia looked down. She hadn't dueled Yusei, so did that mean they were just acquaintances? She shook her head. _No. It's just complicated._

"If I leave my friends behind," said Yusei, "I'll never truly be free."

"Stop acting tough when you have no deck. Do whatever you want. Sheesh!" he turned around and stormed off.

"You said your name was Yusei?" Yusei and Cecelia turned to look at the group of people that had followed Himuro. "You were quite the showoff. Come with us for a minute."

Yusei followed them, and soon he was in the middle of a walkway with all of them surrounding him. After Yusei had left, Cecelia's legs gave out and she fell on her butt.

 _Looks like the Crimson Dragon hasn't finished._

 _"I have. You're just experiencing the fatigue that comes with it."_

 _Fatigue? Why didn't that happen last time?_

 _"Last time I was just doing some finishing touches. Your body was healing itself very efficiently on its own."_

 _It would've been nice if you said something about this earlier._

 _"You really believe I had the time for that?"_

Cecelia didn't answer. It was true; she didn't give the Crimson Dragon a lot of time to explain things to her. She had just kept going from one place to another these past few days.

"…to the Crimson Dragon!"

Cecelia turned to look at the old man. "What?"

"Were you talking to the Crimson Dragon just now?" he asked.

"Um, yeah. Why? What's up?"

The old man suddenly gained an immense interest in his hands. "I was just hoping that you could…tell me more about it?"

Cecelia smiled. "Sure, but I don't know too much about it myself. I only awakened to the power a few days ago." She let out a soft laugh and rubbed the back of her neck. "If we're being honest, I didn't really know the Crimson Dragon was a thing until then."

Upon hearing her answer, the old man frowned. He was hoping to ask detailed questions, but he didn't think the knowledge Cecelia had would be much more than his own. "That's okay! I still would like to know how you became the Vessel!"

"Okay," said Cecelia with a smile, "But um, could you tell me your name first?"

The old man and Himuro started laughing. "You can call me Yanagi." he said with a smile.

"And my name is Cecelia if you didn't catch that already. Nice to officially meet you Yanagi. Did you see the Crimson Dragon that night when all the power went out?" A nod. "Well that was when it happened. It's kind of funny when I think back on it. After the Crimson Dragon appeared in the sky, it flew towards me, knocking me off of my duel runner."

"Why were you on a duel runner that late?" asked Himuro.

"Oh yeah, you guys don't know about that. My parents are Sector Security, and they asked me to tag along. I guess they were called and knew that Yusei had trespassed into the city."

Cecelia looked at Himuro and the old man and tried to stop herself from laughing. Their shocked expressions were priceless. Realization soon dawned on the old man's face.

"So you were the officer that showed up after that night and tried to talk to Yusei!"

Cecelia nodded. "I wanted to let him know more about the Signers, but if I knew he had you for that I probably wouldn't have tried so much." A slightly bitter laugh escaped her. "Well anyway, ever since that night I've been able to speak with the Crimson Dragon. At first it was only in a dream, but now it can listen to my thoughts. I can pretty much talk to it whenever it's in the mood, I guess."

"So how did you end up here?" asked Himuro. Cecelia gingerly touched her criminal mark.

"I decided to mess around with my powers. I found out I could teleport to wherever a Signer is, as long as I can focus on them and their surroundings. I never really got a chance to talk to Yusei while I was here pretending to be an officer, so I decided to try and do things my way. Takasu found out, and then decided that I was trying to cause a prison break."

Cecelia then frowned and crossed her arms. "And when Takasu found out, I couldn't even focus enough to get out of there." She grimaced. "Goodwin was probably just trying to use me so they could find Yusei's mark," she muttered, "And now he can keep observing me more."

Cecelia looked up and saw the crowd around Yusei. "I wonder what they're talking about."

Himuro laughed. "You don't need to worry about that."

Cecelia looked up at him, a questioning expression on her face. "What do you mean?"

"You'll see. Just trust me."

 _Trust him? I just learned his name not too long ago!_

"I guess I'll just take that with a grain of salt, if you don't mind."

Another laugh from Himuro caused Cecelia to raise an eyebrow. She then got up again and leaned against the wall. "So what now? We just wait until 8:30 hits?"

The silence from Himuro and the old man answered her question. She sighed. "I guess so."

* * *

 _Tic. Tic. Tic._

Cecelia opened her eyes to see that the clock had changed to 8:00. She had run out of things to talk to the Crimson Dragon about, so she had just been laying on her bunk thinking about everything that had happened to her. This was the first time she had actually sat down and had nothing to do, and she definitely did _not_ like it. She had run out of things to do, and could not imagine just laying there and doing nothing for half an hour.

Cecelia sighed. _This is torture! Why can't thirty minutes be gone already?_

The duelist sat up and looked at her hands. She could always try and do something with her powers.

 _"You know that's a bad idea."_ Cecelia flopped back down onto the bed.

 _Oh really? And why's that?_

 _"They might think you're planning to escape."_

 _But I don't have anything to jam this marker, so why would I try and escape when they can immediately find out where I am?_

 _"Touché."_

Cecelia smirked. _I thought you were this all-knowing being,_ Crimson.

 _"Do not treat me like a god. I cannot begin to fathom why you humans act the way you do."_

Cecelia laughed again, causing the guard stationed outside her cell to look back at her like she was crazy.

 _Hey Crimson. I actually have a question._

 _"I am listening."_

 _So, when I was with Yusei earlier, I somehow ended up with a tail. Obviously it was meant to be yours, but why did that happen?_

 _"I thought you were not going to ask about that."_

 _It was a tail. How could I not ask about that?_

 _"When you have been with one of the Signers for a certain period of time, you can manifest the part of me that their mark represents. Because you have been with Yusei before, you can make my tail manifest connected to your body. This is because he has the mark of my tail. When you spend more time with a Signer, that part of me grows stronger within you."_

 _I think I understand, vaguely at least. You really need to get better with these explanations, Crimson._

 _"Please do not patronize me."_

 _Alright, alright, I'm sorry._

Cecelia heard the door to a cell open. She looked at the clock and saw that it was 8:30. Had thirty minutes really gone by that quickly? She jumped out of the bed and immediately looked through the bars. Two guards were bringing Yusei to a platform in the middle. Right in front of Chief Takasu. Takasu chuckled.

"Hero of Satellite, you need a deck to duel. You did bring one, right? If you don't have one, then I win this duel by forfeit!"

 _What did he end up doing?_ Cecelia watched the exchange with a worried expression.

"I have a deck," said Yusei.

"I-Impossible!" exclaimed Takasu. "From where?"

"You will never understand how much a duelist cares for a single card."

Cecelia smiled. _So that's what they did. All of us have one card we can't get rid of._

"Well, fine," said Takasu, "If you have a deck, then I'll just have to squash you in a duel. You guys!" He pointed at the guards. "Hurry up and prepare the duel disks!"

The guards got to work, putting the duel disks on Takasu and Yusei. The duel disks were connected to a chain that was bolted into the ground. Once they were done, Yusei moved his arm. "What's this chain?"

"It's just for a little show. Only the survivor gets to take off this duel disk."

"Only the survivor?"

"You'll understand soon enough."

Cecelia frowned. "I have a bad feeling about this."

"DUEL!"


	20. The Duel for Freedom

"Duel!"

 **Yusei 4000; Takasu 4000**

"My turn!" said Yusei, "I summon Great Phantom Thief **(Lv 3: ATK 1000 DEF 1000)** in defense position."

Great Phantom Thief was a man wearing a blue suit with black gloves, a red tie, and a red mask covering his eyes. He also wore a blue cape and top hat. He crouched down, indicating that he was indeed in defense position. One of the inmates smiled.

"Hey look! That's my card!"

"I end my turn."

Cecelia looked down at the duel. It was time for Takasu to make a move, and she was getting a bad feeling about it. After all, Yusei's deck was just a lot of cards that came together with no clear rhythm or flow to it.

"I hope you came up with a good strategy Yusei," she muttered.

 **Yusei 4000; Takasu 4000**

"It's my turn," said Takasu with a grin, "I draw! I summon Iron Chain Repairman **(Lv 4: ATK 1600 DEF 1200)**!"

Iron Chain Repairman was a stubby, muscular man with purple skin, a thin black mustache with ends pointing up, and green pants with chains as suspenders holding his pants up. He wore a red bandana on his head, along with orange goggles, and blue protectors made of metal on his forearms.

"Iron Chain Repairman attacks your monster! Go, Iron Chain Repairman!"

The monster jumped up and brought his hammer down onto the phantom thief, making it burst into yellow shards. All of the inmates looked disappointed.

"My card…"

Cecelia couldn't help but chuckle when she heard that. It just seemed funny to her.

 _"You have a dark sense of humor."_

 _Does that bother you, Crimson?_

 _"Not at all. I was just stating my observation."_

"At this moment, Iron Chain Repairman's monster effect activates!" Takasu continued his turn. "When it destroys a monster in battle, you take 300 points of damage! Prepare yourself, garbage hero."

 **Yusei: 3700**

Cecelia felt the hair on the back of her neck stand. A current of electricity passed, shocking Yusei. He yelled out in pain as the sparks danced over his body.

"Yusei!" said Cecelia. She grabbed the bars of the window in her cell, worried about the duelist. He had taken a knee while Takasu was grinning like a madman.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I forgot to explain. These duel disks have a special mechanism. When you take damage, an equal amount of electricity flows through it."

"What?"

"For past examples, it's unlikely that the loser of this duel will live. That's what I meant when I said that only the survivor would be able to remove the duel disk." Takasu started laughing. "I set two cards and end my turn."

Cecelia frowned. _What's his deal with electricity? And knowing Takasu, he probably has it rigged so that his duel disk doesn't do the same thing._ Her eyes widened in realization. _This duel must be rigged! Takasu doesn't play fair, especially when it comes to Satellites in here._

Yusei slowly stood up.

 **Yusei 3700; Takasu 4000**

"My turn. I summon The Kick Man **(Lv 3: ATK 1300 DEF 300)** in attack position!"

The Kick Man had purple-pink skin with a yellow mohawk and beige pants. He had gold bracelets on his wrists, and green eyes.

"That's my card!" yelled an inmate, "Go Yusei! The Kick Man will blast Takasu to bits!"

Takasu smirked again, and Yusei continued with his turn.

"Then the Equip Spell Stim-Pack. The equipped monster gains 700 attack points."

 **The Kick Man: ATK 2000**

As The Kick Man powered up, his muscles started bulging more and more. He let out some sort of growl once the power up had finished.

"The Kick Man, attack Iron Chain Repairman."

The Kick Man jumped up, and started flying toward Iron Chain Repairman. Takasu stuck his arm out as he activated a trap.

"I won't let you do that! Continuous Trap Soul Anchor! I equip Iron Chain Repairman with this card. When this card is on the field, it cannot be destroyed in battle!"

Iron Chain Repairman started glowing purple, and the light disappeared once The Kick Man made contact. He bounced off, as Iron Chain Repairman was not destroyed.

"However, you still take damage," said Yusei.

 **Takasu: 3600**

 _In theory,_ thought Cecelia, _now Takasu should be receiving a shock. I hope I was wrong about_ this.

The bottom of the chain sparked, and Takasu started yelling. However, there were not any sparks. His yell soon turned into a laugh.

"I don't believe it," he said, "It seems my duel disk is malfunctioning."

"What?"

Cecelia clenched her jaw. "This was another part of your trap!" she yelled, "Of course you weren't going to play fair!"

"That's cheating!" yelled Yusei's roommate, "There never was electricity flowing through his duel disk from the beginning!"

Takasu started laughing again. "Stop making false accusations. It's not my fault that it's malfunctioning."

"Of course it's your fault!" yelled Cecelia, "You control everything here!"

Her power had started to spark up again. The aura of the Crimson Dragon started to cover her fists. Cecelia was furious, but she didn't know what to do with herself. She knelt down on the ground, while other inmates started yelling at Takasu.

 _"You need to calm down."_

"But it's not fair!" replied Cecelia. She didn't care if it sounded like she was just talking to herself. "I want to see that ass get shocked."

 _"Losing control over your powers is not the way to go. You know this."_

Cecelia's fingernails dug into her palms. She let out a growl and punched the floor beneath her, leaving a crack behind. The energy around her fists released, and she let a breath out. Cecelia then took a deep breath in, let it out slowly, and stood up. She was determined to keep watching the duel.

She looked back down at the platform, and it looked like Takasu was starting his turn.

 **Yusei 3700; Takasu 3600**

"My turn! From my hand, I summon Iron Chain Snake **(Lv 3: ATK 800 DEF 1200)**!" The snake was exactly what it sounded like — a snake with its body made of chains. It was grey, and hissed once it was summoned. "I activate Iron Chain Snake's ability! Iron Chain Snake is equipped on to your monster, and it loses 800 attack and defense points."

Iron Chain Snake lunged at The Kick Man, and landed on him, weighing the humanoid monster down. The snake now looked like an oversized chain.

 **The Kick Man: ATK 1200**

"Go, Iron Chain Repairman!"

The duel monster jumped up and brought his hammer down on The Kick Man. Yusei's monster turned yellow, and then broke apart into little yellow shards. Yusei was electrocuted again, and yelled out in pain.

 **Yusei: 3300**

He wobbled a bit, but stayed standing.

"When Iron Chain Repairman destroys a monster in battle, you take 300 points of damage!" Takasu smirked while Yusei was electrocuted again.

 **Yusei: 3000**

"Yusei!" exclaimed Cecelia and a few others. Yusei was on the ground, gasping for air. Takasu started to laugh.

"That's not all," said Takasu, "When a monster equipped wth Iron Chain Snake is destroyed in battle, its controller has to send cards from his deck to the graveyard equal to the level of the equipped monster. The Kick Man's level is three. Now send three cards from your deck to the graveyard!"

Yusei took three cards from the top of his deck, held them up, and then put them one by one into the graveyard part of his duel disk. Takasu chuckled.

"I'll soon send you back to the dumpster you call a hometown! But I'm going to kill you first! That way you can rot like the garbage you are!" He erupted into more laughter.

"Come on Yusei!" shouted Cecelia, "You have to get up!"

The other inmates joined in with Cecelia, shouting for Yusei to get up. Cecelia watched the platform anxiously, and eventually noticed a red light behind her. She looked down, and saw that she had a tail again. She groaned.

"Not again!"

Cecelia looked at the tail, and it moved whichever direction she willed it to. It went up, down, then to each side. Cecelia waited a moment and then smirked.

 _So that's what it feels like to wag a tail._

Cecelia shook her head. She couldn't let herself get distracted. The duel was more important. The end of her tail kept flicking as she watched the exchange on the platform below unfold. Takasu was laughing maniacally, while the inmates were cheering Yusei on and shouting at him to stand up.

Yusei slowly stood up.

"That's the spirit," said Takasu, "If it ends now, the duel isn't worth it."

 _Isn't worth it?_ thought Cecelia. She looked around and saw all of the cameras. Surveillance like this was normal in the Facility, especially in the Hive, but the amount of active cameras focusing on the duel just didn't feel right to Cecelia. Her eyes widened in realization. Goodwin had to have played a hand in this somehow. Was the duel between Takasu and Yusei supposed to bring out his Signer mark somehow?

 **Yusei 3000; Takasu 3600**

"My turn!" said Yusei, "From my hand, I activate the spell card Nightmare's Steelcage."

A dome formed around Yusei, first red, and then dark grey. Each connection had spikes jutting outward, and there was one big spike at the top of the dome pointing up towards the ceiling.

"When this card activates, all monsters cannot attack for two turns."

"You can't even summon a monster?" mused Takasu.

"I set one card and end my turn."

 **Yusei 3000; Takasu** **3600**

"My turn!" Takasu pulled another card from his deck. "You think that you can prevent damage with Steelcage, but will that actually come true? Appear, Iron Chain Snake! Then due to Iron Chain Repairman's ability, I special summon a level 4 or below Chain Monster! Resurrect, Iron Chain Snake! I activate two continuous spells! With Poison Chain, if I didn't battle during the turn, the opponent sends cards in his deck to the graveyard equal to the total level of my Chain Monsters. My total monster level is 10! Therefore, you have to send ten cards in your deck to the graveyard!"

"Ten?!" exclaimed Cecelia, "Yusei can't keep this up much longer!"

Takasu smirked and made up thumbs down sign.

"What?" Yusei glanced down at his duel disk.

"You built that deck using cards from those losers," said Takasu, "Garbage will always be garbage. Hurry up and send those cards to the graveyard."

Cecelia closed her eyes and looked down. Did that mean Yusei wouldn't even be able to use her card in that duel? Was there really no way she could help him?

"Symphony Djun," she muttered, "Please don't be in those ten. Please find a way to help Yusei."

Yusei grabbed the chunk of cards from the deck, held them up, and then put them into the graveyard.

"Now your deck has 20 cards remaining," said Takasu, "My next continuous spell: Paralyzing Chain! When an effect that sends cards from the opponent's deck to the graveyard activates, it deals 300 points of damage!"

Electricity covered Yusei's body once again, and he yelled out in pain. Cecelia cringed, and shut her eyes.

 **Yusei: 2700**

Yusei stood up again, but was very wobbly. Cecelia looked at the scene before her and frowned.

 _Crimson, isn't there some way my power can be used to heal Yusei? Just like you did for me?_

The dragon was silent for a moment. _"It isn't impossible."_

 _Ok, so tell me how I go about that._

 _"But you do not even know how to go about healing yourself. How are you going to do it to someone else?"_

 _I don't know! But that's what you're here for right? To help me understand my powers?_

She heard the Crimson Dragon sigh. _"Fine. Healing is positive, so you cannot let negative thoughts enter your mind while you are trying to heal. You have to focus on removing the pain, or whatever ails your target."_

Cecelia nodded, and looked down at the platform. She concentrated, and in a few moments her hands were covered with the crimson light. She focused on Yusei and undoing the fatigue the electricity had caused. Her fingertips felt like they were buzzing, and the vibrating sensation went up through her arms. Electricity sparked in front of her. The buzzing, vibrating sensation passed through the rest of her body, and Cecelia did everything she could to stop herself from screaming out in pain. Was this what Yusei went through each time he lost life points in this duel?

A spark of light exploded in front of Cecelia, and she yelped as she was thrown back. She hit the wall, slid down it, and sat on the ground. Cecelia breathed a sigh of relief. The buzzing was finally gone.

 _What the hell Crimson Dragon?! You didn't say I would essentially get electrocuted!_

 _"I did not know your body was goign to react that way,"_ it replied, _"It was only your first time trying to do that. However, I am impressed. It seems to have worked."_

Cecelia got up, and wobbled towards the bars. When she looked back down at the duel, Yusei was standing straight. Takasu looked like he had just seen a ghost.

"What the…? How are you…?"

Cecelia smirked. Whatever she did worked after all. She saw Yusei smirk as well as he started his turn.

 **Yusei 2700; Takasu 3600**

"My turn. I set three cards."

"The Quick-Play Spell Psychic Cyclone!" said Takasu, "With this card, I declare whether a set card is a spell or a trap. If I'm correct, that card is destroyed and I get to draw one card. I'm going to select…let's see…the very left card! That's a trap card!"

"What?"

A cyclone emerged from Takasu's spell card, aimed at the card he targeted. It swept the card up, revealing that it was indeed a trap card. It disappeared, and in its place were purple shards.

"It was Dust Tornado. Too bad for you," said Takasu. The chief refused to stop smiling. This was his duel to win, and nothing was going to stop him. He had eyes everywhere, of course. Takasu thought of the cameras around him and his smile widened. There was no way he was going ot lose this duel, even if that garbage Satellite suddenly stopped wobbling after getting electrocuted. "A trap car cannot activate on the turn it was set. If you destroyed Poison Chain with that card, you still would've had a chance."

 _He's talking like he already knew the card that Yusei put_ down, thought Cecelia, _But that's impossible. Unless…_

Cecelia looked around and spotted that cameras again. She knew something felt off about those. Maybe bringing out Yusei's mark was only part of the reason that all of those cameras were focused on that duel. Takasu was in charge there. He would be using those cameras to spy on Yusei's cards! The duelist frowned. If only there was a way to prove it, and let everyone know.

She crossed her arms. Even if Cecelia had proof and found some way to let everyone know, it wouldn't change the outcome. Yusei's cards were still set in place, and there was no way to switch them. Takasu already knew the placement of Yusei's cards, and the latter couldn't switch them once they were in place.

"Due to the effect of Psychic Cyclone, I draw one card," said Takasu.

"I set one more card," said Yusei, "I end my turn."

 **Yusei 2700; Takasu 3600**

"My turn! I summon Iron Chain Blaster **(Lv 2: ATK 1100 DEF 0)**!"

Iron Chain Blaster had red chunks of iron that looked like iron covering its torso, shoulders, and lower half. The parts in-between the armor were a very deep purple, and it wore a helm of the same color. Its eyes were red, and the area around them was grey. There was a chain connecting its arms to a gray blaster, and some other chains on its shoulders. It had four grey spikes on its back.

"Due to Poison Chain's effect, you send cards in your deck to the graveyard equal to the total level of my Chain Monsters. Discard twelve cards!"

Yusei glared at Takasu while he got rid of over half of the cards that were left in his deck.

"Your deck has six cards left," said Takasu while he stroked his beard, "If you have no cards left to draw during your turn, you lose. Furthermore, due to Paralyzing Chain's effect, when you send cards in your deck to the graveyard, you take 300 points of damage."

 **Yusei: 2400**

Once again, Yusei yelled out in pain as the electricity shocked him. However, it didn't hurt as much as before. Nothing had changed in his duel disk, so why did it feel less intense?

From her cell, Cecelia smirked. It looked like her attempt to heal Yusei had actually worked. The tip of her tail was still flicking back and forth, and the Vessel seemed pleased with herself. Cecelia looked behind her. Eventually, her next task would have to be how to control her power so she didn't randomly spout a tail. But she could worry about that later. The duel in front of her was what she should be paying attention to.

"I activate Iron Chain Blaster's ability!" yelled Takasu, "I send Iron Chain Snake to the graveyard." The snake turned into a ball of purple light, and went into the end of Iron Chain Blaster's back-spikes. "Fire!"

Iron Chain Blaster aimed, and then fired at Yusei. The blast was a bright amber, and exploded at Yusei's Steelcage. Electricity sparked up from the duel disk again, and Yusei found himself screaming in pain. Again.

"Due to this, you take an additional 800 points of damage."

 **Yusei: 1600**

"Then due to Iron Chain Repairman's ability, I special summon a level 4 or below Chain Monster from my graveyard."

The second Iron Chain Snake was on the field yet again. Takasu had a perfect loop of damage in place. He would sacrifice an Iron Chain Snake due to Iron Chain Blaster's ability, and then hit Yusei with 800 points of damage. This was on top of his Paralyzing Chain spell card that dealt 300 points of damage every time his opponent had to send cards in the deck to the graveyard.

"I end my turn. Your Nightmare's Steelcage vanishes this turn."

 **Yusei 1600; Takasu 3600**

The steel dome around Yusei disappeared into yellow shards, but he didn't wobble and breathe heavily like Takasu was expecting. Were these electric shocks even doing anything to the Satellite? Yusei still looked as stoic as ever, but he wasn't showing any signs of falling over anytime soon.

Takasu was infuriated. This Satellite should be on the ground by now. Why was he showing no signs of fatigue? Something happened in the middle of the duel, the chief just didn't know what. He glanced up, and saw that Cecelia was smiling. He also noticed that there was a red glow behind her. Takasu frowned as he couldn't tell what it was.

Cecelia noticed Takasu look up at her, and she smirked in victory. Takasu's duel disk death trap was no match for the healing she could provide for Yusei.

"I might not be able to heal him again this duel," she muttered, "But I definitely did something right."

Cecelia was breathing heavily. Using the Crimson Dragon's power really did drain her. It was difficult for her to try and heal Yusei — it had left her feeling exhausted. She barely had enough energy left to stand. The fatigue had really hit her when Yusei was getting electrocuted after she healed him. It always seemed like it took some time to catch up with her.

From inside of Cecelia, the Crimson Dragon started to think. It had blocked its Vessel off from its thoughts.

 _"So if the fatigue takes time to catch up with Cecelia,"_ it muttered, _"_ _that means she could keep fighting if necessary for an extra amount of time. More so if this fatigue gets delayed every time she uses some of my power. This is an interesting turn of events."_

 _Did you say something Crimson?_

 _"Not at all,"_ replied the dragon, _"Just keep watching the duel for now."_

 _If you say so._

"Is the garbage hero getting tired?" taunted Takasu, "I'm willing to accept your surrender."

Yusei looked up and glared at Takasu. "Is that all you have to say?"

Cecelia saw a vein bulge in the chief's neck as he tried to keep his fury in check. "As you wish, I'll send you to hell!" yelled Takasu.

"My turn!" said Yusei as he pulled a card from his deck. Once he did, all the lights went out. Everyone was left in darkness. Cecelia closed her eyes.

 _Yusei,_ she thought, _You might be thinking the same thing, but you need to switch the positions of your cards! I know there's no way you can understand me like this, but I'm sure you've already noticed all of the cameras in here._

"What? What's going on?" demanded Takasu. After a few more moments, the lights came back on. He lifted the collar of his vest up and spoke into it. After listening to the response, he straightened. "It was just a blackout."

After looking back at his cell, Yusei lifted up his duel disk. "I'll continue the duel," he said, "I activate the trap Jar of Greed. I draw one card."

"You intentionally decreased the number of cards in your deck?" asked Takasu, "Now you only have five cards remaining in your deck."

"The trap card Call of the Haunted. With this card, I special summon a monster from my graveyard in attack position. Resurrect, The Kick Man!"

"Even if you resurrect that worthless card," said Takasu, "Nothing is going to change."

"When The Kick Man is special summoned, it can equip an Equip Card in the graveyard."

"A card in the graveyard?"

"Among the cards that you forced me to discard is a card with infinite potential! I equip Axe of Despain on to the Kick Man!"

 **The Kick Man: ATK 2300**

"Then I summon Symphony Djun **(Lv 2: ATK 300 DEF 200)** ," said Yusei.

The Winter White hamster appeared on the field, looking ready to fight. Cecelia smiled looking at her duel monster. "Don't let him down," she said. She then pumped her fist in the air. "Yeah! That's my card!"

"The Kick Man attacks Iron Chain Snake." The said monster jumped up and brought its axe down on the iron snake. It burst into yellow shards.

 **Takasu: 2100**

Electricity sparked up from the ground, and traveled up the chain to Takasu's duel disk. He yelled out in pain. All of the inmates were shocked. Takasu's duel disk was unfairly inactive for the entire duel, and no one could understand why it worked all of a sudden.

"Something happened during the blackout," muttered Cecelia. Her thoughts then drifted to Yusei's roommate. He should have been gone by now — he had that escape planned after all. "There's no way he had a hand in this," she said, "Right?"

Takasu's body was steaming, and he coughed out a puff of smoke. "No way…" he said, "Why is their electricity flowing through my duel disk?" He then collapsed on the ground, leaving everyone else even more confused.

"There's a trespasser in the electric maintenance room," said a voice over a intercom system, "I repeat, there's a trespasser in the electric maintenance room."

"A trespasser?" Takasu got to his feet. Some of the guards ran over to him. They had someone with them that was definitely not Sector Security.

"Chief! We've brought the trespasser."

Cecelia's mouth hung open as she recognized who they were bringing forth. It was Yusei's roommate! She looked down at the platform in disbelief. She then composed herself and grinned. "So he did have something to do with the blackout after all."

"How did you escape?" demanded Takasu. One of the guards came up behind Takasu and told him about the hole. Takasu then turned and whispered something to the guard. "Hurry up and turn off the electricity flowing through my duel disk."

"Sorry but that's not possible," said Yusei's roommate.

"What do you mean?"

"I destroyed the system blocks."

Takasu growled. "After I get rid of this garbage from Satellite, I'll kill you!"

"Say whatever you want because you won't beat Yusei."

"Why did you come back?" asked Yusei.

"It's just like you said," replied the purple haired man, "If I escape and leave my friends behind, then there will be shackles on my heart. Even if I live like that, I will never truly be free."

Yusei looked back at Takasu. "If you're personally going to judge his crime, then I'm adding a new stipulations to this duel. If I win, you will ignore his escape attempt."

"Fine," replied Takasu, "But if you lose, he's going down with you!"

Yusei nodded. "Let's continue the duel! I end my turn!"

 **Yusei 1600; Takasu 2100**

"My turn!" said Takasu. He looked at the card he drew. "You're lucky it's not a monster. I activate the spell card Reload! I add my hand to my deck. Then I draw the same number of cards that I returned!" Takasu started laughing. "The spell card Mystical Space Typhoon. With this, I destroy the left card on your field. Activate!"

A gust of wind emerged from the card, blowing away Yusei's card. The card spun around, revealing that is was not Battle Mania like Takasu was expecting.

"What?" he exclaimed, "It's not Battle Mania?"

"I activate my trap," said Yusei, "Battle Mania! Due to the effect of this trap, monsters on the field must battle this turn!"

Takasu lifted up the collar of his vest again and spoke into it. After hearing the response, he clenched his jaw.

"I summon Iron Chain Coil! Iron Chain Coil tunes Iron Chain Blaster! Synchro Summon. Appear, Iron Chain Dragon **(Lv 6: ATK 2500 DEF 1300)**!"

Iron Chain Dragon was colored teal, with blue on the base of its arms leading into its wings. It had two bone white horns on its triangular shaped head. There were grey chains going from each shoulder of the dragon to the base of its tail. The dragon's chest had cavities in it, making it look like a set of ribs that were all connected.

"Until the end of the turn, for every Chain Monster in my graveyard that I remove from play, Iron Chain Dragon gains 200 attack points. There are four Chain Monsters in my graveyard! Therefore, Iron Chain Dragon gains 800 attack points!"

 **Iron Chain Dragon: 3300**

Cecelia paled. "3300 attack points?" She then remembered that her monster was on the field, and Takasu would probably go after it to do the most damage.

"Go Iron Chain Dragon!" yelled Takasu, "Chain Blast!"

A green and white ball formed at the dragon's mouth, and then it shot a green beam towards the hamster. Symphony Djun rolled into a ball and braced for impact.

"I activate Symphony Djun's ability!" said Yusei, "Once per turn I can negate an attack, and half of the attacking monster's attack points get added to Symphony Djun's."

 **Symphony Djun: 1950**

Takasu clenched his jaw. Now that he knew about Symphony Djun's ability, he couldn't destroy one of that Satellite's monsters with his Iron Chain Dragon. Not unless he tried to sacrifice Iron Chain Repairman to use up Symphony Djun's ability. But there was no way Yusei was going to activate that ability knowing that Iron Chain Repairman would just get destroyed anyway.

"I end my turn."

 **Yusei 1600; Takasu 2100**

"My turn!" said Yusei. He looked at his cards and smirked. It was a small one, but it could be seen all the same. "This battle is over," he said, "You lose."

"What?"

"Since you sent all of those cards to my graveyard, I'm going to win. You called us garbage. But you're wrong. This duel proves that no one in the world is useless." Yusei revealed a card that he had hidden in his sleeve. "I knew that you were spying on my hand with the security cameras. That's why during the blackout," he lifted his duel disk and showed Takasu the card, "I changed how I held my special card so that the security cameras couldn't see it. When you learned that the information from the security cameras was wrong, you should have been more careful."

"You punk!"

"Here I go! From my hand, I summon Rubble King **(Lv 1: ATK 0 DEF 0)**!"

Rubble King sat on a throne made of brown rock. He wore purple robes that were in tatters, and black gloves and boots. His crown was also made of this brown rock, and he had a grey face with red round eyes. His silver hair was lifted up, parallel to the ground.

"With this card, when there are thirty or more cards in my graveyard, I can activate a trap from my hand! I activate this card." Yusei showed Takasu his trap card. "The trap card Blasting the Ruins. When there are thirty or more cards in my graveyard, you take 3000 points of damage."

Images of all the cards in his graveyard appeared behind Yusei. They then turned into rocks the same color as Rubble King.

"What?"

Rubble King lifted his hand, and all of the rocks oriented themselves so that they were pointed at Takasu. All of the rocks then flew at Takasu, impacted with him for a moment, then disappeared, leaving Takasu to deal with the electrifying result. He shrieked as he was shocked with electricity, dropping his life points down to zero.

 **Takasu: 0**

 **Winner: Yusei**

* * *

Chief Takasu fell to the ground, thoroughly defeated. His body was steaming, and his hat fell off of his bald head. Upon his defeat, the inmates started cheering. Cecelia cupped her hands around her mouth, hoping to amplify the sound of her cheers.

"Yeah Yusei!" she shouted, "You did it!"

Cecelia looked behind her, and saw that her tail had disappeared. _I guess it's just something that appears with the duel,_ she thought.

 _"For now yes,"_ said Crimson, _"But eventually you will be able to summon it — as well as the other parts of me — at will."_

Cecelia nodded. Summoning the other parts of the Crimson Dragon could possibly also strengthen her existing skills. If she needed to build up her power to be able to do that, then it looked like she was going to have to find some way to train.

Cecelia turned her attention to what was going on around her. All the inmates were cheering Yusei's name. Cecelia didn't join in — she saw that Takasu was trying to get up. When the chief was an acceptable distance up from the ground, he pointed at Yusei.

"Arrest him!"

Yusei's eyes widened in shock. "What?"

"That's not what you promised!" yelled his roommate, struggling to free himself from the guards that held him.

"I don't recall making a promise with you!" retorted Takasu.

"Stop it, Chief Takasu." The chief paled when he heard those words. There was only one person above him. Only one person that could speak to him that way, and effectively make him shut up.

Cecelia looked up, and glared at the owner of the voice. "Of course he's here," she growled, "Goodwin."

* * *

 **And now I welcome you to the end of Crimson Symphony's longest chapter! I don't know if there are going to be any chapters that end up being this long again, but I won't rule out the possibility.**

 **I'm sorry I haven't uploaded in a while, I really hate disappearing like that. Finals week was really kicking my ass, but…I'm on summer break now! Hopefully I'll have more of a chance to get on a normal schedule of uploading again between my summer class and hopefully getting a summer job. Actually no, scratch that. I'll definitely get on a schedule again, I just need to work out which day it's going to be. I might go back to the Sunday posting, but I'm not too sure.**

 **Anyway, sorry I made you guys wait so long for this duel. I hope you enjoyed it, and stay tuned for the next one!**


	21. Freedom!

Cecelia gripped the bars of the cell as she glared at Goodwin. She just didn't trust the guy. First, she gets the okay to try and get Yusei up to speed with the Signers and everything. Then when she does that, she immediately gets blamed for something she had no intention of doing, and she gets thrown into the Hive. She was only arrested after Takasu decided to call Goodwin.

She shook her head. It _was_ her fault for taunting Takasu and challenging him. However, she wasn't expecting Goodwin to reply like that. At least this way he was able to make sure that he kept an eye on the Vessel of the Crimson Dragon.

 _"You do not know that for sure,"_ said Crimson.

 _Yeah, yeah. I'm not completely positive of that, but I'm pretty damn sure that's the situation._

The Crimson Dragon sighed. _"I ask that you keep control of your emotions until you get more information."_

 _Ok fine. I wasn't going to do anything anyway. I mean, what exactly_ can _I do? I'm still stuck in here._

Director Goodwin looked down on Takasu. "You're painful to watch. I observed the duel. It seems you do not have the skills to run this place. The person who is going to vanish is you."

Chief Takasu was on his knees looking up at Goodwin. Once he heard that he was effectively fired, he sputtered out some noises of disbelief, and then looked down at the ground. He couldn't believe this was happening to him. He had been completely defeated. First by the Satellite in their duel, and then by Goodwin.

The director started walking down the platform, and made his way towards Yusei.

* * *

Yusei had been allowed to leave right away. He was in the dueling area with Himuro, Yanagi, and Kohei — his roommate in the Hive. While they were all talking, Cecelia was in another area with Goodwin. Her arms were crossed, and she looked up at him.

"I don't understand why you decided to put me in the Hive," she said, "Couldn't you have just sent me to a correctional facility or let my parents deal with me?"

"You don't understand, Miss Briceño," said Goodwin, "You did break the law and tried to cause a prison break. Something like that cannot be overlooked in our system. Didn't you say you wanted to be able to speak to Mr. Yusei Fudo? I also allowed this to happen by transferring you to the Hive along with him. I believe I met your request."

Cecelia rolled her eyes. "I wasn't trying to cause a prison break!" she growled. Cecelia took a deep breath, held it in for a few moments, then let it out slowly. "But if that's the cover story, so be it. However, it seems like you got something out of it as well. You weren't able to get a read on Yusei's Mark of the Dragon in the normal area, so you transferred him to the Hive. Was that duel supposed to try and bring it out or something?"

Goodwin waited a moment before answering. He looked into Cecelia's cold eyes, and then handed her deck and an envelope to her. "I believe Yusei has the tail of the Crimson Dragon? Keep working to develop that power, Vessel of the Crimson Dragon. You are also free to go."

Cecelia looked at the envelope, and then looked back up at Goodwin. It was a white envelope with a red seal. The seal had "FC" on it. "Hey! What is this?" she shouted.

"Don't disappoint me Miss Briceño," said Goodwin, "I look forward to your continued assistance during the Fortune Cup."

Cecelia sighed and touched her criminal mark. "Continued assistance my ass." Whether Goodwin would give her a lot of information or not didn't matter; she could find out on her own — or at least try to figure some stuff out. Cecelia glanced around. It was about time she met up with the others. Himuro had said something about a dueling field, but not much else. That didn't matter to Cecelia; even though she didn't know exactly where it was, she would be able to find her way there. She pocketed the envelope and made her way to the others.

"…he must be personally interested in you."

Cecelia met up with the others just in time to hear the last part of what Kohei was saying. Yanagi smiled and looked at the Vessel.

"And she gets to leave immediately too!" he exclaimed.

"It seems Goodwin's really interested in you guys," said Himuro, "You should be careful."

"You don't have to tell me twice," muttered Cecelia. Himuro raised an eyebrow, but before he could ask anything, Yanagi started talking.

"Bro, I have a farewell gift for you," he said as he pulled out a card.

"But this is…"

"It's fine," said the older man, "You'll use it better than me, bro."

Yusei took the card and smiled. "I'll take care of it."

"Yusei, Cecelia," said Himuro, "Take this card. At a store downtown named Bootleg, there's a man named Saiga. If you show him this, he'll help you."

"Thank you," said Yusei.

Cecelia's head tilted to the side. "Help with what?" she asked.

"Get your decks and Yusei's duel runner back," Himuro said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Cecelia flipped up the deck holder on her belt and took out her deck, showing it to the rest of them.

"But I already got mine back." She then looked at Yusei. "You mean you didn't get yours back?"

Yusei nodded, and his thoughts drifted back to what Takasu had said. Cecelia seemed to remember as well.

"Takasu," she muttered. She still felt bad about that entire situation. She looked back up at Yusei, and when his eyes met hers, she immediately looked down at the ground again.

An awkward silence soon hung in the air. Kohei came around and clapped both Cecelia and Yusei on the shoulders. "I think it's about time you guys get going," said Kohei.

Yusei nodded, and they both walked out of the Facility. Cecelia paused and crossed her arms. "Hey Yusei."

"Yeah?"

"I want to help."

"What do you mean?"

"I want to help you get your stuff back."

"Ok."

Cecelia smiled. "Great! I need to pick up something really quick, but I shouldn't take too long. Meet at Bootleg later?"

Yusei nodded, and Cecelia started to run off. She smiled and waved as she got further away from him. Once she was gone, Yusei started to think. Cecelia was a strange girl. She always seemed to show up at the strangest times. First as a guard in the Facility that watched as Takasu and his men…did things, and then popping up into his cell in the Hive. She ended up getting arrested too. He just couldn't figure her out. Even though she had all of her stuff back, she still wanted to help him get all of his? All he knew was that there was some kind of connection because he was a Signer, and she was the Vessel of the Crimson Dragon. Maybe after things calmed down a little he would be able to get to know her better?

* * *

Cecelia stood a few feet away from the garage Harvey worked in. She wasn't sure if she wanted to go in or not. Harvey would definitely demand where she had been, and then say something about her new criminal mark. It didn't matter. She needed her duel runner back, and Harvey was the one who had it. She took a deep breath, and then walked through the doorway. She was met with Harvey's anger and annoyance.

"Cecelia, where the hell have you been?"

"Out."

Harvey looked up from his project. It was a duel runner that he was modifying. The duel runner was white with different black accents; it almost looked like a Sector Security model.

He took off his goggles to reveal eyes as wide as saucers. Did Cecelia have a criminal mark? He couldn't even begin to think up a reason that would warrant Cecelia to be in the Facility. Her parents were part of Security after all! Couldn't they have found a way to pull some strings for her? Did they even know about this?

"Cecelia what the hell? Is that a criminal mark?"

Cecelia sighed. _Knew it._

"It's a little hard to explain. Crimson Dragon stuff."

Harvey crossed his arms and leaned back. He was not taking Cecelia's "no" for an answer. "Then explain it."

Cecelia started to fidget around. She didn't like the way Harvey was glaring at her. It looked like she wouldn't be able to get off with a short explanation this time. Harvey didn't look like he was in the mood for half-assed explanations. He even stopped what he was working on. Harvey never did that unless he was serious.

"Come on," said Harvey, "This is still payment for fixing your runner. Don't tell me, and I don't give it back to you."

Cecelia groaned. She didn't want to explain her stupid stunt that landed her in the Facility.

"Fiiiine. But let me tell you, it started with a really _really_ dumb plan of mine. All right, so I'm the Vessel of the Crimson Dragon right? Did I tell you that?" One look at Harvey's expression told her she definitely did not. Cecelia laughed nervously. "Guess not."

"So when you were saying that the Crimson Dragon rushed you and made you crash that night, that it was because you're the Vessel?"

Cecelia nodded.

"Holy shit," muttered Harvey, "So you actually have all the glowy dragon powers and talk to it and shit?"

The Crimson Dragon grumbled in the back of Cecelia's mind.

 _"They are not 'glowy dragon powers.'"_

 _Then what would you call them?_

 _"Powers of the Crimson Dragon."_

"It says they're called 'Powers of the Crimson Dragon,'" said Cecelia, "Not 'glowy dragon powers.'"

"Wait, you were just talking to it?"

Cecelia nodded. Harvey was silent for a few moments. He needed to take it all in. He was actually standing — well, sitting — in front of the Vessel of the Crimson Dragon. He might as well be sitting in front of the legendary dragon itself.

"Okay," said Harvey, "You're the Vessel of the Crimson Dragon with all of these powers. How did you end up in the Facility with a criminal mark on your cheek, er, under your eye? By your eye? You know what I mean."

"At first I tried to go and be a guard," explained Cecelia, "I pretended that I still wanted to be a part of Sector Security. Goodwin pretty much only allowed that so he could use me."

"But why'd you try and go there?" asked Harvey, still confused, "There's nothing in the Facility related to the Signers and the Crimson Dragon, is there?"

"One of the Signers was there. A Satellite who trespassed into the city. I thought I should bring him up to speed on the Signers and find out why exactly he came to the city."

"Ok so what? A Satellite was in the Facility, and you thought you should pull some stupid stunt just to let him in on some info?"

"I knew him when I was younger."

"You knew him? But I thought you were from —"

"Yes, I'm from Neo Domino, but I went to the Satellite with my parents. That's how I met him."

Harvey grinned and raised an eyebrow. "So, based on two meetings, you thought you should fill the guy in on some stuff? That's the _only_ reason why?"

"Information is valuable," replied Cecelia, avoiding eye contact, "You said so yourself. _Anyway_ _,_ when I tried to pose as a guard, it didn't really work out too well. I didn't even get to talk to him for five minutes. The Crimson Dragon then started telling me about the different things I could do with its power. It said that there was a chance I could use my power to teleport to wherever a Signer is — as long as I focus on them. I decided to give it a try."

"You decided to give it a try? The first time testing out a power like that to get into _the Facility?_ "

Cecelia shrugged. "I told you it was a dumb plan. The plan was _supposed to be_ get in, share what I know, and get out." Cecelia looked down and muttered, "And maybe apologize for just standing by."

"What was that?"

"Nothing," Cecelia touched her criminal mark, "As you can tell, the plan failed. Spectacularly. My power activated in response to the Satellite's mark, and then Chief Takasu found out. One thing led to another, and then it was decided that I was trying to cause a prison break. You can see what happened next."

Harvey was silent for the next few moments. Cecelia stayed quiet as well, not wanting to interrupt his thoughts. He still had her duel runner after all. "So," he said, breaking the silence, "You didn't _do_ anything, other than be incredibly stupid."

"Hey!"

"I mean seriously," continued Harvey, "Did you not even think that there would be security cameras in the cells? There were so many ways you could've gotten caught. It's like you didn't even think this through!"

"Oka—"

"Do you even know how you're gonna make a living after this?" Harvey didn't care about what little excuse Cecelia was about to make. "Your big dreams of being a musician are gone after this. No one's gonna want to listen to a _criminal_. So what if you're the Vessel of the Crimson Dragon? That's only temporary. You can't do anyth—"

"I get it alright?!" shouted Cecelia. She had already told herself this millions of times while she was stuck in that cell. When she didn't have anything to do, she would get a harsh reminder that threw her future down the drain. The only bright side was that she wasn't in there for too long before Goodwin showed up to let her and Yusei out of there. She didn't need someone repeating it to her.

Cecelia looked down after her outburst. "I get it. Can I get my duel runner back?"

"Look Cecelia I'm—"

"My duel runner, Harvey."

Harvey got up and silently led Cecelia to her fixed duel runner. It looked as good as new. The duel runner was black with lilac accents along the body. The back end raised up and pointed out, creating the shape of an eighth note. The eighth note was accented as a deep charcoal grey. Cecelia walked to it and gingerly touched the seat, as if it would fall apart if she was too rough with it.

"Your story today was helpful," said Harvey, breaking the silence between them, "Let me know what else you find out about your powers, yeah?"

Cecelia nodded. She grabbed her duel runner and started to walk out of the garage. She paused before she walked out and looked back at the mechanic.

"Sorry. Oh, and I can summon the Crimson Dragon's tail."

"What?! You never said anything about a tail!"

"Oh wow look at the time! I'll see you later!"

"Argh you'd better not bring a wrecked runner Cecelia!"

Cecelia mounted her duel runner and sped off with a quick wave goodbye.

* * *

Cecelia was by the street close to the entrance of Bootleg. She had decided against going back home. She didn't feel like facing the absolute hell her parents would have in store for her. They were Sector Security after all. Cecelia didn't think that they would take too well to her daughter being a criminal.

 _Even though I didn't really do anything wrong._

Her solution? Just drive around until it got dark. She ended up parking in an alleyway close to Bootleg. The buildings hid her from view a bit, and no one was going to try and see who was there. There were neon lights everywhere, and most people were just focused on getting to a bar or going to dinner.

Cecelia leaned back into her duel runner. She put her hands in her jacket pockets and felt the envelope. She pulled it out of her pocket and looked down at the seal.

 _So "FC" stands for Fortune Cup._

She broke the seal on the envelope and looked at the invitation inside.

 _Miss Cecelia Briceño,_

 _You have been invited to partake in the Fortune Cup — a tournament in which fourteen contestants duel. Should you win against all of the other contestants, you can challenge the King himself: Jack Atlas! If you win against him, you become the next champion of the dueling world! You are one of the Fortune 14 that were selected hand-selected for this great honor._

 _You will all duel in four rounds. The best duelist of the first round will be able to skip the second, and immediately move into the semifinals. The best duelist will be determined through many different factors, including how many life points were left remaining, and overall skill used in the duel._

 _Duel with all your might!_

 _Rex Goodwin, P.M.D. Director_

Cecelia flipped the invitation around, and saw that the back was blank. She looked back in the envelope and saw that there were three pictures inside. Her eyes widened as she recognized the people in the pictures. She saw the blond head of her father, the brunette head of her mother, and Zen's pink hair as all of their pictures looked up at her. Cecelia flipped the one with Faye over, and her eyes widened as she looked over the words.

 _Cecelia Briceño,_

 _I would like to remind you that as the Director of the Public Maintenance Department and Sector Security, Director has direct influence over their jobs. You determine if they keep them or not. I'm sure you would love to participate in the Fortune Cup and assist us as well._

 _Yeager_

Cecelia frowned. Her hands formed fists, and her nails dug into her palms. Each picture had the same message on the back to ensure that Cecelia would read it.

 _Stupid clown. I guess that means there's no choice. I have to participate in this thing and help Goodwin. But help him with what?_

Cecelia shook her head. She needed to think of something else. Her thoughts soon drifted to the Facility and that duel. Yusei pulled off a great victory with all those cards he borrowed from everyone. She then decided to look through her deck, and eventually pulled out her Symphony Djun card and smiled. Her smile soon faded.

Wait.

 _Oh crap where is he?! I told him I would meet him at Bootleg later, but does Yusei even know his way around the city? He's never even been here! Cecelia you idiot!_

Cecelia adjusted her position on her duel runner, and wheeled out onto the road. Neo Domino City wasn't _that_ big right? She could find him if she sped around, right?

 _"I wouldn't worry too much about that."_

 _Crimson what do you mean? I have no idea where—_

 _"The Tail is right in front of you."_

Cecelia soon spotted the silhouette of Yusei's hair and quickly stopped her duel runner. How did she miss him? He had been right in front of her!

She stopped her runner, and flipped up the bottom half of her helmet. Cecelia's helmet was in the style of a full face helmet, completely black except for some lilac colored music notes at each end of the visor. She was able to flip the visor up, as well as the jaw. The helmet even allowed for both to lift up at the same time. She took her helmet off, and shook her head, letting her wavy brown hair fall and reach her back. She put her helmet on her lap and looked up at Yusei.

"Hey."

"Nice runner."

"Thanks."

"You ready?"

Cecelia nodded and smiled. "I was about to ask you the same thing." She got up from her duel runner and put her helmet in a compartment under her seat. They weren't going to be in there for too long anyway.

Cecelia put her hands in the pockets of her black jacket, and walked into Bootleg with Yusei.

* * *

 **Happy Friday! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!**

 **I decided to just write my own version of what the Fortune Cup invitation said, since the anime never showed the invitation themselves. It was just showed the envelope over and over again, without any of the characters actually reading the letter inside. At least, I don't remember that happening — haha please correct me if I'm wrong on that.**

 **I still haven't decided which day of the week specifically I'll be posting on, but I'll definitely be posting chapters every week.**

 **I hope you guys enjoy your weekend, and stay tuned for the next one!**


	22. Cecelia vs Security

The bar wasn't very full — just a few patrons scattered around the tables. The bar had been hidden behind most of the lights on the streets, so not many people went to it. That, and it was filled with people that had criminal marks. Cecelia frowned and touched her own marker.

She shook her head. She really had to stop thinking about it. It was something that she had to deal with moving forward.

"You okay?"

Cecelia looked over at Yusei and nodded. "Yeah."

They both walked down small set of stairs and and over to the bar. They sat down, and the bartender turned around. He had black spiky hair, a hooked nose, and he had two jagged criminal marks running from the bottom of his eyes to his jaw.

"What is it, kids?" he asked, "Got separated from your moms?" He leaned forward. "This sin't the lost children center. Hurry up and go home."

"I'd like some milk," said Yusei, unfazed by the bartender.

Cecelia sighed. "Make that a double," she said as she leaned forward over the counter.

The bartender widened his eyes. "Are you making fun of me?" In a fit of rage he grabbed the collar of Yusei's shirt and pulled the duelist forward. Cecelia put her elbow on the table and rested her head against her hand. The bartender glanced at the door that had opened, let go of Yusei and then regained his composure.

Yusei pulled out the card that Himuro had given him. The bartender's eyes widened.

"He told us about this place," said Yusei. The bartender poured two cups of milk. He set one on top of the card, and the other in front of Yusei.

"It's on the house."

Cecelia raised an eyebrow and Yusei's eyes widened. Yusei slightly turned his head and glanced around the room.

"Saiga is one of these people?"

"You two," said the bartender, "After you finish drinking, go home quietly."

Cecelia and Yusei nodded. They chugged their glasses of milk, and got up. Yusei picked up the card and pocketed it. As they were walking out, two men wearing sunglasses and tuxedos got up and followed them out. Cecelia and Yusei turned and decided to split up. Yusei kept walking down the alley, and Cecelia made her way back to her duel runner. She could always catch up with him a little later.

Cecelia got back to her duel runner, and wheeled it back to where Yusei was headed. She soon heard the noise of another motorcycle, and got there just in time to see the man on the duel runner scoop Yusei up. He sped off, and Cecelia put on her helmet and started to follow.

 _I guess that's Saiga,_ she thought as she sped forward to catch up.

The duel runner in front of Cecelia started cutting through different alleyways, trying to lose Cecelia; however, she wasn't going to let him lose her that easily. She saw him shine a light on Yusei's criminal mark. Cecelia had never seen one up close, but she knew that was something to jam the signal from a criminal mark.

Saiga slowed down a bit until he was next to Cecelia.

"Take the helmet off, I need to block the marker's signal."

"You know how dangerous that is?!" replied Cecelia.

"Just do it!"

Cecelia sighed and decided to just flip up her visor, since her marker was just under her eye. Saiga shone the light over the marker.

"So you're Saiga?"

"Yeah."

After a few moments, Saiga was done, and sped in front of Cecelia to lead her to their destination. Cecelia and Saiga stopped their duel runners by the entrance and turned them off. Saiga started walking in with his duel runner. Cecelia decided to just follow suit. Yusei and Cecelia followed Saiga inside and then up some stairs. He parked his duel runner by the window. He sat down and started typing on his computer.

Cecelia left her duel runner close by the entrance and started looking around.

"Who are you?" asked Yusei. Saiga chuckled.

"I don't know either, but I can acquire almost anything. I guess you can say that I'm a Jack-of-all-trades. You guys don't have to worry about my fee. Before Himuro went into the Facility, he had me hold on to his money. So, what can I do for you?"

"I'm going to sneak into the security vault building."

"What?" exclaimed Saiga.

"I want you to help me."

Saiga frowned.

"Yeah…" Saiga then turned to Cecelia.

"So what do you need?"

"Same thing," she said. Cecelia was not very sure if she should keep hanging around after Yusei got all of his stuff back. She normally liked doing other things on her own anyway, and she had to focus on developing her Crimson Dragon powers.

 _"But you still have to remember to stay close to the Signers,"_ said Crimson.

 _Exactly. So I still have to check up on Jack too. Besides, I could always teleport to Yusei using my powers, right?_

 _"As long as you don't lose focus again, it should work,"_ replied the Crimson Dragon.

Cecelia nodded and looked around the room again. None of the lights were on, so it was a little dark. That was probably so they didn't bring too much attention to themselves.

Saiga started to work on Cecelia and Yusei's ID cards to get into the security vault building. As he was working, he glanced at Cecelia. She looked like she had everything that Security would have taken away, so why did she need to get into the vault building? Any normal person didn't just tag along for this kind of thing. He focused on what he was doing. He wasn't here to make friends anyway. As long as he got his money, he was fine.

Soon, Saiga had two ID cards — one of Yusei, and one of Cecelia. Their pictures had been edited so that their markers were nonexistent. Yusei's card had the name _Taro Daimon_ , and Cecelia's said _Hikaru Kitagawa_. The three lines under their names said:

 _Saiga building, maintenance. co,_ _Electric construction person_

On the table, there were two maintenance uniforms, as well as a duffel bag.

While she was waiting, Cecelia decided to sit down in a corner of the room and focus on some of her powers and try to control them a bit more. It might not have been the best idea considering Saiga was there, but if she figured out a way to summon her power faster, it would be more beneficial to her in the future. Maybe she would be able to summon her powers without even closing her eyes and concentrating.

Cecelia closed her eyes. She tried to focus on a part of the Crimson Dragon that she could easily draw on; however, she couldn't even begin to think of what that was. The head, claws, wings, and tail were all tied to one of the Signers. So where did that leave Cecelia?

Cecelia started to see the Crimson Dragon as a whole.

 _"When are you going to understand?"_ said the Crimson Dragon, _"You are not like the other Signers; you are actually a part of me. You will not be able to use your powers to the fullest as long as you keep thinking of me as these separate parts."_

 _Of_ course, thought Cecelia, _Only the Vessel is able to summon all parts of the Crimson Dragon. So that means…_

Cecelia looked down at her hands, and started to imagine them as claws. She had to stop thinking of her and the Crimson Dragon as completely separate buildings. To activate her power, she had to think of herself as the actual Crimson Dragon.

 _"You're on the right track,"_ said the Crimson Dragon, _"Although I wouldn't go so far as to say that we are exactly the same being."_

 _Then what would you say we are?_

 _"We are two beings that are extremely similar. The Vessel of the Crimson Dragon is my way of interacting with the world, and a key component of the war against the forces of evil every time we clash. You could say I am almost like a spirit animal of sorts. I merge with your spirit and become a part of you."_

 _That,_ thought Cecelia as she leaned against the wall, _Is a very complicated answer. So basically, I can think of us as pretty much the same? Or rather, you and I exist as almost the same?_

 _"Yes."_

Cecelia looked down at her hands again, and she thought she saw red claws. She blinked again, and her hands were back to normal. "What the heck…?"

"Cecelia."

She looked up at Yusei.

"You were spacing out for a while," said Yusei, "Are you okay?"

Cecelia nodded and got up.

"I'm willing to bet that you'll both end up getting sent back to the Facility," said Saiga, "But that's not my problem. Get some rest. You'll need it."

* * *

The next morning, Saiga set the duffel bag in front of Yusei. Cecelia got up from the ground.

"Here's everything you'll need," said Saiga, "The rest depends on your luck."

Yusei got up from the chair and grabbed the duffel bag. Saiga continued to hold onto the straps.

"Answer me. Why are you going when you know that you'll end up being captured?"

"Because the bond with my friends is there," replied Yusei, "All I'm doing is going to get it back."

"Friends?" scoffed Saiga, "You're doing this for something that lame?"

"It's not lame," muttered Cecelia. Yusei turned towards the picture in the back.

"Yeah," said Saiga, "I understand. I used to have a friend too. But the only thing he left behind was this emotionless reality of deep despair and living death." He chuckled. "A bond with you friends? That's just an illusion. Before long, all you'll do is think of yourself, so you'll hurt and use others so that you can survive. Just like me."

Cecelia smirked bitterly. "Amen to that," she muttered. It wasn't that she only cared about herself, she just didn't like to have too many things in her life that could go unexpectedly. She always focused on winning duels and her music anyways. Sure, there were people in her life — she just didn't think of any of them as friends. That's why she never understood why she wanted to find more about Yusei so badly.

 _He just interests me as a Signer,_ she thought, _That's all. Plus, I need to stay close to the Signers, and Yusei's one of them._

"The lucky one survived," said Saiga. Cecelia blinked. She had missed another part of the conversation again.

"However," he continued, "I never rode a duel runner again." He looked away. "It's the same as being dead." Saiga walked towards the picture. "This card is the remnant of our bond. After the accident, he only sent me this card. He was insinuating that I had forsaken him."

There were a few moments of silence. "Risk your life for a friend?" asked Saiga, "In the end, that's impossible to do! In that case, it's better not to make friends in the first place."

"I don't know about that," said Cecelia. Yusei and Saiga looked at her. "I've never been one for making friends. Hell, I've probably never kept a solid friendship all my life. But I think friendships like yours are meant to last, Saiga. You spent all that time dueling, so you must have created a bond with your partner, one that can't easily be broken."

Yusei picked the duffel bag off of the table, and the two duelists walked out. When they were outside, Cecelia sat on her duel runner and looked at Yusei

"I'll take us close by the vault building, and then we can walk the rest of the way," said Cecelia, "We'll get there faster and have a chance to scope the place out."

Yusei nodded, and got on the duel runner. Cecelia started to drive off towards the security vault building.

"So where are we going in this building anyway?" asked Cecelia.

"My duel runner is on the top floor of the vault," replied Yusei. Cecelia nodded, and glanced behind her as she heard the sound of another duel runner behind them. She recognized that figure.

 _No way…Ushio?!_

"Have you come across any Security officers multiple times?"

"What?"

"Someone's following us," said Cecelia, "And the duel runner is Sector Security."

"There is one that I keep running into…"

Cecelia nodded. She smirked.

"How do you feel about stunts?"

"What?"

"Ushio is following us. I know how to lose him for the moment."

Yusei nodded, but was still a little confused.

"I feel bad for Himuro since his money on me was wasted," said Cecelia, "But once I lose Ushio, I'm going to drive by somewhere you can jump off and hide until he catches up with me."

Cecelia revved her engine and started speeding up. She turned into some backroads that she felt comfortable driving through at higher speeds. She knew Ushio didn't normally patrol through those areas, so it would be easier for her to lose him. Now she had to get far enough in front that he wouldn't see Yusei jump off, but close enough that Ushio would still follow her. She could always speed up, and then slow down so that it was safer for Yusei to jump off.

She glanced behind her and saw that Ushio was no longer there. As she turned another corner, she heard the sound of his runner as it turned. Cecelia smiled.

 _Perfect._

Ushio was the ideal distance away. All that was left to do was find an alley for Yusei to jump into. Cecelia looked in front of her looking for a good place to slow down. She turned left and saw that she was still in a darker part of the city. She looked ahead, and saw a gap between two buildings.

"Get ready Yusei. Do you have that duffel bag?"

"Yeah."

Cecelia started to slow down just a bit. The alley between the two buildings was coming up.

"Make sure you're in far enough so he doesn't see you."

Yusei nodded and started to get into position. He had brought his other leg around, and had a hand on the eighth note part of Cecelia's duel runner. Cecelia glanced back at Yusei. "Good luck."

"You too."

Cecelia looked forward, and Yusei jumped off of the duel runner. He landed on the ground with a roll, and quickly got up and pushed himself against the wall. He heard Cecelia rev her engine once again, and then a few moments later, Ushio sped by on his Sector Security duel runner. He waited a little longer before starting to walk toward the vault building.

Now that Yusei was out of the way, Cecelia made her way towards one of the main roads. She glanced behind her and saw that Ushio was starting to gain.

 _He might try to start a duel._

"Stop right there Satellite!" shouted Ushio. Cecelia stayed quiet and tried to speed up again. Ushio grimaced. "You won't get away that easily!"

He pressed a button on his duel runner, and started a duel. Cecelia looked down in shock as her duel runner started slowing down, and the duel disk activated. She knew that Sector Security did this, but she had never experienced the other side of it before.

"Now we duel, Satellite," he said once he was close to Cecelia. She was glad for the dark visor she had — it would be harder for Ushio to recognize her until the duel was fully underway. Now she could buy more time for Yusei. Besides, Ushio had never seen her duel runner.

"DUEL!"

* * *

 **Ushio 4000; Cecelia 4000. Ushio's turn.**

"I don't know how you got that duel runner, Satellite," said Ushio, "But it doesn't matter! It's my turn! Draw! I summon Gate Blocker **(Lv 4: ATK 100 DEF 2000)** in defense position!"

Gate Blocker was a big rectangular block that appeared in front of Cecelia. It was blue and orange, and had one big red eye in the middle.

"When Gate Blocker is on the field, you can't gain speed counters."

Cecelia frowned. Her first priority needed to be getting rid of that Gate Blocker. If she didn't, she wouldn't be able to use any of her speed spells. Well, she did have one she could use.

 _If I'm lucky enough to draw it,_ she thought as she looked at the arm of her duel runner that held five cards.

"I set two cards facedown and end my turn."

 **Ushio 4000; Cecelia 4000. Cecelia's turn**

"Draw!" Cecelia looked down at her cards, trying to think of a way to get rid of Ushio's monster. "I summon Symphony Paladin **(Lv 4: ATK 1800 DEF 1200)** in attack position!"

Symphony Paladin was a man with long white hair. He had white armor that was composed of a chest plate and greaves. He also wore white plated boots, and staff lines wrapped around his armor.

Ushio smirked. "I activate my trap! Climactic Barricade! Any face-up level 4 or lower monster that you control can't attack this turn! And in addition to that, you take 500 points of damage for every face-up level 4 or lower monster that you control!"

 **Cecelia: 3500**

Cecelia slowed down a little more as she took the damage to her life points. She frowned.

"I set one card facedown and end my turn."

 **Ushio 4000, SC:1; Cecelia 3500, SC: 0. Ushio's turn.**

"Draw! I summon Jutte Fighter **(Lv 2 Tuner: ATK 700 DEF 900)**!"

Jutte Fighter was a small man with black hair tied in a bun. He wore round glasses, a red shirt that was tied in the front, beige pants, and brown shoes. There was also something that looked like a cylindrical blue and grey grenade on his back.

"Jutte Fighter's effect activates! I can change one of the monsters you control from attack to defense position! I pick Symphony Paladin!"

The paladin bent down and put his sword in the ground in front of him and turned blue, indicating that he was in defense mode.

 **Symphony Paladin: Defense position, DEF 1200**

"Now I use Jutte Fighter to tune Gate Blocker!"

Jutte Fighter turned into two green rings of light, while Gate Blocker turned into four white stars.

"Synchro Summon! Come forward! Goyo Guardian **(Lv 4: ATK 2800 DEF 2000)**!"

Goyo Guardian was a man with black hair tied in three buns, and a face that was painted white with red lining around his eyes and lips. He had an open short sleeved red jacket, and a torso that was wrapped in bandages. He had a blue sash tied to his back, and wore black socks and sandals with white string.

"Goyo Guardian attacks Symphony Paladin!"

"I activate my trap card!" yelled Cecelia, "Slow Tempo! When a monster you control attacks, the attack stops, and it gets switched into defense position. Oh and you take its defense points as damage."

Goyo Guardian jumped back. It kneeled and turned blue, showing that it was in defense position. Ushio shouted out as he slowed down a little.

 **Goyo Guardian: Defense position, DEF 2000**

 **Ushio: 2000, SC: 0**

"I end my turn," growled Ushio.

 **Ushio 2000, SC: 1; Cecelia 3500 SC: 1** **. Cecelia's turn.**

"My turn!" said Cecelia as she drew a card. "I summon Symphony Star **(Lv 4 Tuner: ATK 1200 DEF 1100)** in attack position!"

Symphony Star was a white bear cub sitting on a star. The star the cub sat on had small music notes emitting from it.

"Now I activate Symphony Star's effect. I can draw a random card from my deck, and if it's a monster, I can summon it." Cecelia looked down at the card she drew. "Lucky for you, it isn't one. However, I can still Synchro Summon! Symphony Star tunes Symphony Paladin!"

Symphony Star turned into four green rings, and Symphony Paladin turned into four green stars.

"Release the song from inside! Share the music and shine through the darkest of times! Synchro Summon! Sing, Symphony Dragon **(Lv 8: ATK 2700 DEF 1800)**!"

Symphony Dragon was a dark grey dragon with scales that reflected with different colors, which included: vibrant purple, electric blue, fiery red, and bright yellow. On its wings it had different music notes. Its snout wasn't too long, and it had horns that didn't stick out too much. There were less spikes near its head and they spread out through its body, but it didn't have many spikes in general.

"I activate Symphony Dragon's effect!" said Cecelia, "When it is summoned, all monsters on your side of the field get their attack points lowered by their defense points."

Symphony Dragon let out a high pitched frequency that made Ushio and Goyo Guardian cover their ears.

 **Goyo Guardian: ATK 800**

"Now Symphony Dragon," said Cecelia, "Attack Goyo Guardian! Harmony Blast!"

Symphony Dragon opened its mouth, and a ball of light formed in front of it. From the ball of light, huge music notes were shot towards Goyo Guardian. After three hits, Ushio's monster turned yellow and burst into shards.

"I activate my facedown!" said Ushio, "Final Penalty! When a monster I control is destroyed by battle, I can destroy a monster you control! Then you take damage equal to half of my destroyed monster's attack points. Say goodbye to your Symphony Dragon!"

 **Cecelia: 3100**

Cecelia smirked. "I don't think so. I activate Symphony Dragon's second effect. By paying 500 lifepoints, it can be resurrected at the end of my turn.

 **Cecelia: 2600**

"I set one card facedown and end my turn. Welcome back, Symphony Dragon!"

 **Ushio: 2000, SC: 2; Cecelia: 2600, SC: 2. Ushio's turn.**

"My turn!" said Ushio, "I summon Gate Blocker in defense position!"

The block showed up in front of Cecelia again.

"You won't get away that easily," said Ushio, "I set one card facedown and end my turn."

 **Ushio: 2000, SC: 3; Cecelia: 2600, SC: 2. Cecelia's turn.**

Cecelia raised an eyebrow. Ushio's last turn was very short. Almost too short. He was baiting Cecelia to destroy his Gate Blocker.

"My turn," said Cecelia, "I summon Symphony Priestess **(Lv 4: ATK 1700 DEF 800)** in attack position!"

Symphony Priestess was a girl with blond hair and white robes with music notes all over them. She held a white staff shaped like a treble clef with a black stone in the middle.

"Symphony Dragon, attack Gate Blocker! Harmony Blast!"

The ball of light formed in front of Symphony Dragon's mouth, and more music notes shot towards the Gate Blocker, destroying it.

"Now Symphony Priestess, attack —"

"Not so fast!" interrupted Ushio, "I activate my facedown! The trap Broken Blocker! When a monster in defense position that I control with defense points that are higher than its attack is destroyed, I can summon another monster with the same name. I summon another Gate Blocker in defense position!"

"It's back?" muttered Cecelia in annoyance. Ushio was catching up to her. "I end my turn."

 **Ushio: 2000, SC: 4; Cecelia: 2600, SC: 2. Ushio's turn.**

"My turn!" said Ushio, "I activate the speed spell: Speed Demon! Since I have three or more speed counters, I can give you 1000 points of damage!"

 **Cecelia: 1600**

Cecelia grimaced. "Thanks for the gift."

"My pleasure," said Ushio, "I end my turn."

 **Ushio: 2000, SC: 5; Cecelia: 1600, SC: 2. Cecelia's turn.**

"My turn!" said Cecelia, "I summon Symphony Djun **(Lv 2: ATK 300 DEF 200)** in attack position!"

The Winter White Russian Dwarf hamster appeared on the field again. Its music note shaped ears twitched as it ran alongside Cecelia.

"Symphony Dragon attacks Gate Blocker! Harmony Blast!"

Symphony Dragon destroyed Gate Blocker with some more music note shaped blasts, and Ushio's field was left empty.

"Symphony Priestess, direct attack!"

Symphony Priestess held her staff in front of her and let her magic attack Ushio.

 **Ushio: 300**

"And now Symphony Djun, attack Ushio directly!"

Symphony Djun ran forward and rolled into Ushio. He shouted out again and his duel runner spit out smoke and stopped.

 **Ushio: 0**

 **Winner: Cecelia**


	23. Operation: Retrieval!

Cecelia turned toward Ushio after his duel runner stopped. His head was down, and he did not look pleased to say the least. She looked at his face, and saw that he had a scar on the left side of his face going from his eye to the corner of his mouth.

 _When did he get that?_ thought Cecelia. She smirked. "Nice scar Ushio." He looked up at her, and glared.

"Come to gloat over your victory, Satellite scum?" he growled. Cecelia smirked and debated whether she should take her helmet off or not. She could keep it on, and let Ushio believe she was a Satellite — which could buy Yusei some more time. From what Yusei told her, it seemed like Ushio was the Sector Security officer that kept following him around. On the other hand, she could take her helmet off and see Ushio's reaction to him having dueled her; however, if she did that, Ushio would see her new marker. He would probably ask for an explanation like Harvey, and Cecelia wasn't sure she could explain to Ushio as easily as she did to Harvey.

Cecelia decided to turn her runner around and leave Ushio with a few words. Maybe he would be able to figure it out without Cecelia having to take off her helmet.

"Did the person you dueled before have a _Symphony_ deck?" Cecelia then sped off in the direction of the security vault building. Ushio blinked a few times, looking in the direction that the duelist had left.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

* * *

The sun had started to set, and Yusei just getting to the building. He looked up at the tall structure, and when he was about to go inside, a hand grabbed his arm and pulled him onto a duel runner. He didn't think it was Saiga again — the hand was smaller, and the gloves were different. He looked up and saw that he recognized the person that had pulled him onto the duel runner.

"I dealt with Ushio," said Cecelia, "He's the one you kept running into?"

"Yeah."

"He should be stopped for a while so let's get your stuff and go."

Cecelia parked somewhere near the vault building, and put her helmet in the compartment under her seat. Once she was ready, they both went inside. They decided to go into their respective bathrooms, and change. After she was done, Cecelia walked out of the bathroom wearing her maintenance uniform over her regular clothes. It felt a little bulky with her jacket, but she just had to deal with it for a little while. She looked in the mirror, and put a patch over her marker, making sure that it was completely covered. She could have used some sort of concealer, but there was always a chance it could get washed off or smudged. The patch made sure that the marker would stayed covered.

She walked through the lobby, keeping her head down while people walked out. Cecelia glanced to the other side of the room, and saw that Yusei was doing the same. Everything was going according to plan. They went into one of the stairwells white the doors were locked, and the building was shut down. They each went to a different bathroom on one of the higher floors so they could take those uniforms off. Yusei glanced at her before walking off.

"Meet at the deck vault when you're done," he muttered. Cecelia nodded, and their quick exchange was over so no one would grow suspicious.

She walked through some hallways, avoiding the patrol bots that were roaming around. She met up with Yusei, and they both went to get his deck back. They were in front of the door that held all confiscated decks, and saw that there was a card reader next to it. Yusei took out his card and swiped it. The doors opened and a big room with vaults and cabinets holding thousands of decks. Cecelia couldn't help but wonder how in the world they were going to find Yusei's deck in all of this.

Cecelia looked at Yusei, hoping he had some sort of idea. He started to walk up and down the isles, searching for his deck. Was that his plan? Just go up and down until he found his deck? Cecelia sighed. She decided to just go to the other end and look around. She decided that there must be some sort of labeling system used to organize everything. Cecelia looked down at one of the drawers.

 _Eisen, Jax_

Cecelia kept walking, and more names started with "E." She got to the first name with an "F," and then smirked. It was in alphabetical order after all. She just had to keep walking in that direction, and she would eventually come across Yusei's. By the time she reached it, Yusei was already there. He opened the drawer and took his deck out. He flipped through it to make sure that all of his cards were there, and then he nodded to Cecelia. They both walked out of the deck vault, and through the hallways again. Yusei stopped them while another patrol robot went by. When there weren't any to be seen, the duelists went through the stairwell and up a few flights to get to Yusei's duel runner.

When they got there, there was a keypad and a card reader. This time, Cecelia swiped her card and entered the pin that Saiga had given them. The door opened with a beep, and the doors opened to reveal many different boxes and crates. It looked like some sort of warehouse. Yusei flipped open a GPS tracker that would lead them to his duel runner. They kept getting closer to the blinking red dot on the screen.

Yusei stopped in front of one of the crates. Cecelia looked up. "So it's in here?" she asked as she looked at the tracker Yusei was holding.

"Yeah."

Spotlights soon illuminated the area where the two duelists were standing. Both Cecelia and Yusei turned around and lifted their arms to shield their eyes from the light. They heard the laugh of a man they both instantly recognized.

After he finished laughing, Ushio smirked. "I'm surprised," he said. "I knew you would try something, but garbage is garbage. I can't believe you tried to sneak into the security vault."

"This belongs to me and my friends," said Yusei.

"You're wrong," replied Ushio. "Everything held here belongs to Neo Domino City. Let me also add that the lives of Satellite garbage belong to this city also!"

Cecelia glared at Ushio. She knew he had strong feelings towards the people of Satellite, but she didn't realize it was this bad of an obsession.

"I'll send you back to the Facility again," said Ushio. He then glanced at Cecelia, and his eyes widened. Why was she there with a criminal marker by her eye? Ushio regained his composure and frowned. "That goes for you too Cecelia. To think you were helping a Satellite…it looks like you haven't learned any common sense from all of us after all this time."

Cecelia rolled her eyes. "You've only taught me how to be obsessive over one thing."

Ushio grimaced. "I'll deal with you later, Cecelia."

Cecelia saw Ushio's brows knit, and she leaned in closer to Yusei.

"Run."

"What about you?"

"I'll find you later."

"After them!" yelled Ushio.

Yusei jumped up the side of the crate and started climbing to the top, and Cecelia darted in the other direction. She wasn't as athletic as Yusei, so there was no way she would be able to do the same thing he did. Sure, she knew some basic self-defense, but there was no way she could do something like that. She just knew that if she had a head start, she would be able to outrun some of the officers for a while.

Cecelia ducked through the different crates, trying to make it harder for them to find her. She needed to get out of that vault and back outside to her own duel runner. As she was running, she heard Ushio's voice. "That's what I call a rat in a trap! Give up you garbage!" A few seconds later she heard the faint engine of a duel runner. Cecelia heard the crate burst open from Yusei driving right into one of the sides. Cecelia paused just long enough to see Yusei's red duel runner speed by. More officers started running after him, yelling out things like "Stop!" and "After him!"

Cecelia was glad for the extra distraction, it would give her more of a chance to get out of there. Part of her did feel a little hurt that Yusei just left, but she did tell him that she would find him afterwards. That, and getting away was the priority.

 _That's right_ _,_ she told herself, _You have to get out of here while you still can._

Cecelia started running again. She saw an officer with pink hair block her way with his arms out. Cecelia started running faster, and she ducked under Zen's arms. She started running towards the door of the vault. As she was running, she could hear Zen's footsteps pounding behind her. Cecelia kept sprinting. She couldn't keep this up much longer.

 _Wow,_ she thought, _I really wasn't built for this._

Cecelia came up on a set of stairs. It was going to take her too long to go down them the normal way. She glanced at the railing and smirked.

 _There's a first time for everything._

She slowed down so she could align herself with the railing. She hesitated before jumping onto it and sliding down.

"Shit shit shit shit shit," she muttered, trying to keep her balance. When she was in the middle, she almost slipped off, but she was able to narrowly avoid it. She got to the bottom and jumped off. She tried running again, but her legs didn't want to obey her. She ended up jogging, and it was only a matter of time until Zen caught up to her. She kept panting, and her legs were burning. She wanted to stop, but she knew that Zen was gaining on her by the second.

"Kid!" he shouted. "Cecelia! I'm sure we can get this sorted out with your parents so you don't have to go to the Facility! Just stop running! You're making things harder for the both of us!"

Cecelia replied by turning her jog into a run. She was going to end up using the last bit of energy she had, but she didn't care. She would make herself find the energy to make it to her duel runner. Cecelia stumbled, and caught herself before she fell to the ground. She got about ten feet further, and was then tackled to the ground.

"Damn kid," said Zen. His breathing was just a little heavy. "You sure are hard to catch when you want to be. What the hell happened to musicians not being very athletic?"

Cecelia's only response was panting and trying to get some oxygen into her lungs. She tried to get up, but Zen held her down. "Sorry kid," he said. "I'm not letting you go anywhere for now. If you behave, I'll forget what happened tonight. I'm sure Ushio and your parents will do the same thing."

* * *

Yusei glanced behind him. He had no idea where Cecelia had gone, but he was sure that with her powers she would get away. That didn't stop him from feeling bad about it. He shook his head. Cecelia seemed like a smart girl — she could get out of that situation. They would probably go easier on her since she was related to two Sector Security officers.

He saw doors closing in front of him, and barely made it through. He was forced to make a sharp turn once he got through, causing orange sparks to rain on the ground behind him. He then heard another duel runner come up behind him.

"You fool!" shouted Ushio, "Did you really think you could escape from me? Hurry up and give up!"

Yusei glanced behind at Ushio and sped up, ignoring the taunts of the Sector Security officer. Ushio started to speed up and catch up with him. "C'mon, you can at least participate in our conversation! If you can't, then why don't you talk to me with your cards, like a duelist?"

It was always about a duel with Ushio. He was always convinced that he would defeat Yusei; it seemed to be the only thing he thought about when they crossed paths. That, and arresting Yusei.

"I forcibly activate a field spell! Set on Speed World!"

* * *

Zen stood up, and grabbed Cecelia's left arm. He pulled her up to her feet, and refused to let go. Cecelia tried to shake her arm free, but Zen kept his hold on her firm. Cecelia saw him smile at her, and it sent chills down her spine.

"How about," said Zen with his forced smile, "I take you back to your place, and you explain to both me and your parents how you wound up with a criminal marker." It didn't sound like Zen was making a request. Cecelia gulped and slowly nodded. Zen started leading her back towards the entrance of the building.

"Duel runner's…outside," panted Cecelia. Zen nodded and kept walking. When they got outside, Cecelia's duel runner was still where she had left it. Cecelia took out her helmet and put it on. She was about to sit down to drive it, but Zen pulled her back.

"I'm driving it," he said, "I don't know if you're really going to go back home if I let you drive."

Cecelia frowned and let Zen sit in front of her and drive her runner. He decided that he could just pick up his own Sector Security runner later. He needed to get things sorted out with Cecelia first. Zen glanced behind him at Cecelia.

"So how about you tell me how you got into the Facility?"

"It doesn't matter," said Cecelia, "It happened and now it's over with."

"You and I both know you're not stupid enough to get into some kind of trouble."

"Maybe I am," said Cecelia. "I don't want to talk about it, so stop."

"You're going to have to say something about it eventually," replied Zen. Cecelia didn't answer. "How were you able to get in there anyway? That area's blocked off for non-authorized personnel. Who helped you?" Cecelia stayed silent again, and Zen took it as a sign that she wasn't going to answer any of his other questions. He looked in front of him, and continued to drive towards Cecelia's apartment complex. He stopped her duel runner outside, and then wheeled it into the garage where the two duel runners belonging to Jamie and Faye were.

Zen grabbed Cecelia's arm, and started leading her up the stairs. He looked behind him, and saw that she was still wearing her helmet. Zen groaned and crossed his arms. "Take that thing off. You have to face this head on."

Cecelia stayed still, refusing to do as Zen told her. Zen crossed his arms and glared at her. "Cecelia, take that thing off. Dammit kid I'm not asking you again!"

The young duelist slowly turned around and walked back towards her duel runner. She took her helmet off, and stowed it in the compartment under her seat. She then walked back toward Zen, who grabbed her arm again and led her to the door. Cecelia opened the door, and Zen closed it behind them. He glared at Cecelia, and tried to keep his anger in check. "Listen," he said. "I'm pretty sure none of us want to be doing this, seeing how late it is. I'm going to stay here and sleep on the couch, you're going to go to your room, and we'll do this in the morning. I'd have a story ready for your parents if I were you."

Zen turned around and walked towards the couch, flopping down on it. Cecelia stayed standing for a few more moments, and then walked to her room. She opened the door, and then entered. She closed the door behind her, and slid down until she was sitting on the ground. She looked around her room, and felt more comfortable. It felt like the last time she was in the room was a few years ago, not a few days. She got up and sat on her bed. Exhaustion soon overwhelmed her, and she flopped on her side, instantly falling asleep.

* * *

 **Wow look at that! Zen appears again after what feels like forever! Hope you guys enjoyed the chapter! Stay tuned for the next one!**


End file.
